Head over Feet
by Hooty-McBoon
Summary: The small bundle of screaming baby woke the new parents, both of whom reached under their pillows for their hidden weapons so that they could deal with this new threat. Once rational thought replaced the initial panic at being woken at 4am both let out a shaky laugh as they got to their feet. AU Clintasha pre Avengers
1. Chapter 1

After reading a few fantastic fanfics where Clint and Natasha have a baby I became obsessed with the idea, and simply had to write my own. I hope it does the ideas in my head some form of justice and that you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer; Obviously I don't own anything.

* * *

Chapter 1

The small bundle of screaming baby woke the new parents, both of whom reached under their pillows for their hidden weapons so that they could deal with this new threat. Once rational thought replaced the initial panic at being woken at 4am both let out a shaky laugh as they got to their feet. Rubbing sleep from their eyes they trudged slowly into their daughter's bedroom, she was still wailing, her tiny fists balled up as she flung them around wildly. Rose Barton was three days old, her mother, the infamous Black Widow had been terrified when she first found out she was pregnant. She had been on a SHIELD mission to gauge whether or not Tony Stark would be suitable for the Avengers initiative;

* * *

She was late. Which was not normal for Natasha Romanoff, her body clock was always on time everything happened on time, she knew before she'd bought the pregnancy test what it would say, the knot of worry in her stomach only tightened with time. The positive result took the wind out of her; she knew she'd have to call Clint.

She paced her room slowly holding her phone her thumb hovering over the 'call' button, sighing she pressed it and pulled the phone up to her ear, it rang twice before he answered; "Hey Tasha, how's Stark?" he asked, the sound of his voice warmed her more than she thought possible.

She sighed again; "A huge narcissist. His ego could fill up the whole tower." She smiled imagining him grinning.

"Sounds like your kind of guy. How have you not killed him yet?" he asked failing to hide a chuckle.

"That isn't the mission." She told him, she was enjoying the distraction from the real reason she was calling, there was a long pause before she sucked in a breath; "Clint." The seriousness of her tone had his full attention; "I-I'm, I'm pregnant." The silence that met her admission was painful; she waited for him to say something, anything.

"Really?" the hope in his voice almost broke her; "We're having a baby?"

There were tears in her eyes as she nodded, before she realised that he couldn't see her; "Yeah really. I uh, I just found out." Once the news was given she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her chest, she should have known that he would be excited. Clint Barton would be a natural father the thought struck her and once again Natasha Romanoff found herself breathless; "So yeah. I'll be honest, I am kind of freaking out right now." She told him working as hard as she could to keep her voice level.

"Okay, Tasha sit down. Take a deep breath, you excel at every single thing that you do. It seems only natural to me that you would excel at being a mother too." He could hear her disagreeing with him in her head, they'd never talked about children, it wasn't something that either of them had seen in their future; "I know you don't remember your parents, and your childhood was awful, mine wasn't exactly picturesque, but you and I can do this in spite of everything we've seen, in spite of everything that has happened to us." She feels sick and wants to cry he has always been able to bring her around to his way of thinking; she is almost impressed by how easily he has done it this time.

She inhales deeply and can hear that Clint is waiting with bated breath to what she has to say; "Okay." He sighs in relief; "Yeah, okay." She says shifting in her seat slightly as she listens to him 'whoop' with joy at her decision.

"So we're really going to have a baby?" he asked hardly daring to believe.

Natasha found herself grinning; "Yeah we are." She placed an uneasy hand over her stomach; "You know this shouldn't be possible." She told him with a frown, her grip on the phone in her hand tightens slightly.

"You being pregnant?" he sounds confused; "Why?" he asked now sounding worried.

This is a conversation she would much rather have in person but she doesn't know when she will see him next so she has to do it now; "The Red Room," she mutters with a frown; "when I was recruited they performed operations," she shrugs not being able to think of the words; "I wasn't expected to live past the age of 16 it was rare that a Black Widow ever did." She can hear that his breathing has quickened and that he is clearly distressed by what she is telling him; "I had always thought they had taken away my choice to have children, maybe I was wrong." She finished with a shrug.

"When does your mission finish?" he asked suddenly desperate to see her.

"It could be weeks yet, months even." She told him with a frown.

He sighed and nodded; "Okay, you'll need to go to the doctors before you see me then." He told her seriously.

She nodded; "I know, I know. Stark has given me the day off tomorrow, so I can go then..." she told him.

"I wish I was going with you." He told her and he really meant it, he would get to see her a month and a half later and they decided then that they should break the news to Coulson and the Director, needless to say one of them took it a lot better than the other.

* * *

Phil Coulson knew that Hawkeye and the Black Widow had been sleeping together since Budapest but he had never expected this, his jaw was slack as he stared at the archer who was grinning at him; "So?" he prompted waiting for Phil's reaction.

"How? I mean- I know how...but...a baby?" he was stunned into silence once more by his own thoughts, he turned to Natasha smiling warmly; "How far along are you?" he asked moving forwards to take her hands in his.

"Two months." She told him with a grin.

Coulson's eyes narrowed at Clint; "How on earth did you manage to keep this from me?" he asked with an accusing glare. It was well known that Clint Barton was rubbish at keeping secrets from Coulson, he'd managed to keep his and Natasha's relationship a secret for all of two days before his handler found out.

Clint grinned; "I avoided you like the plague."

"Also I threatened to seriously injure him if he told you before I was ready." Natasha added with a dangerous grin.

"So I assume you're about to go and tell Fury?" the handler asked raising an eyebrow in amusement.

The pair of assassins nodded; "How do you think he'll take it?" Clint asked looking worried.

"How will he take losing one of his best assets to maternity leave? Umm, I'd say badly, but he'll get over it." Clint and Natasha shared a worried glance which made their handler grin; "He can't physically hurt either of you, you've had him mad before, I wouldn't be too concerned."

Clint nodded slowly before smiling and glancing at his partner who gave him a nod; "We had something we wanted to ask you." Coulson nodded and waited for the archer to continue; "We wanted to know if you would consider being godfather to our child?" the look on Phil's face was priceless, the pair in front him grinned as they watched him, tears welled up in his eyes as he pulled them in close and hugged.

"I would be honoured." He whispered before letting them go, when they had straightened themselves once more Coulson was once again his professional self he gave them an amused smile; "Off you go to the Director then."

* * *

The look on his face would be best described as thunderous; he hadn't started shouting yet though that was a good thing, he was also still sitting down so they had both seen him angrier; "You're what?" he was going for the 'dumb' approach then.

Natasha could meet him blow for blow though, she wasn't afraid of him like Clint was; "Pregnant, with child, bun in the oven, do you need me to go on?" His one visible eye had narrowed at her and he forced himself to repress a growl at her response.

His eye flitted over to Clint who was doing his very best not to smirk; "And you are responsible?" Clint twitched and nodded; "So how long has this," he pointed between the two of them as he got to his feet; "been happening?" he asked still remaining remarkably calm for him.

Clint opened his mouth to answer but Natasha shook her head and beat him to it; "With all due respect sir that is none of your business. This, our relationship, hasn't had an effect on our work performance, until now so you really don't need to know how long it has been going on." She paused for a moment letting her words sink in; "If that is all sir? Agent Barton and I need to fill out some paperwork." They turned to go before Natasha paused and turned to the Director; "When are you going to be imposing maternity leave?"

She watched as Fury's one good eye rolled in annoyance; "Whenever you can't do paperwork anymore. Good day Agent Romanoff...and-" he paused pulling in a breath; "congratulations."

The Black Widow gave a rare but genuine smile; "Thank you sir."

The pair walked out of the Director's office hand in hand, they decided that there wasn't any point hiding their relationship anymore, with a baby on the way everyone was bound to find out anyway.

* * *

Unfortunately in Tasha's 5th month of pregnancy Clint was sent on a mission to New Mexico, it wasn't anything too dangerous just some surveillance, he called her every night and made her put the phone on her stomach so that he could speak to their growing child, at first Natasha had thought it was a stupid idea, he was simply being a sentimental fool.

"Come on Tash." He implored the first time he had suggested it.

"Why?" she had asked with a sigh; "I doubt she can hear you..." Natasha heard Clint freeze.

"She? I thought we agreed not to find out." He said with a disappointed tone.

The Black Widow rolled her eyes; "We did, and I still don't know. I just feel that our baby is a girl."

She could hear the smile in Clint's voice as he replied; "Oh, well that is okay then. But still please put me on speaker on your tummy, you know that if I were actually there I'd be talking to your stomach, I don't want to miss out."

She shook her head with a smile as she told him; "You're going soft in your old age." She huffed out a sigh and pressed a button on her phone to put it onto speaker; "Fine. You can talk to the baby, but no silly voices or I will hang up." She puts the phone onto her stomach and can hear him chuckling to himself. He started nattering away to her stomach telling the baby how much he loved it all ready and how excited he was to meet him or her. As he continued to talk Tasha became aware of a slight fluttering in her stomach as the baby moved; "Oh." She muttered putting her hand on the place where she had felt the movement.

"Tasha?" Clint sounded concerned.

She smiled and picked up the phone; "I think the baby must like the sound of your voice 'cause they were just wriggling towards you." The affectionate tone that she used caused Clint's own heart to flutter he wasn't used to this side of Natasha but he was really starting to like it. This softness that motherhood had brought her was a new and interesting change to her personality. One that he was very much in favour of. Natasha smiled to herself as a thought occurred to her; "You should sing to the baby." She told him.

"I don't know any nursery rhymes." He told her with an amused grin.

Natasha laughed; "Well then you'd better start learning some." She paused; "You could always just sing him or her some of your favourite songs." She told him with a wry smile that he could not see.

Clint laughed; "Maybe I will have to do just that." Shortly afterwards Natasha had to cut the conversation short because the baby's wriggling had made her need the toilet.

* * *

It was over a month later when Natasha Romanoff saw Clint Barton again. She was filling out some mission reports at her desk, her seven month pregnant stomach made sitting at the desk rather difficult. The Black Widow didn't notice that Barton was watching her from the other side of the room, she was busy shifting in her seat trying to get comfortable, however her large stomach was making that very difficult. She was glowing, Clint noted that she looked even more radiant than usual.

Coulson approached from his left a smile on his face as he watched the archer watching the Black Widow; "She'd kill you for looking at her like that." Coulson told him with a grin.

"Like what?" The archer asked accepting his handler's hand and shaking it with a grin.

"Like she's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen-" Clint opened his mouth to tell him that she was but Phil cut him off; "I know you think that she is, but she'd still kill you for thinking it." The agent grinned; "Good to be back?" Clint nodded moving past him as he headed towards Natasha who had noticed him in the doorway at last.

The infamous Black Widow needed a little bit of help getting out of her chair; "This is all your fault!" she grumbled as he held onto her forearms and pulled her to her feet.

Hawkeye grinned placing a hand on her stomach and kissing her soundly before crouching down to press his lips to her swollen stomach; "Hello baby." He whispered.

He could practically hear Tasha rolling her eyes at him; "Can you stand up please?" she asked with her best Black Widow face on. Clint looked up at her with an innocent face of his own; "All this mushiness is making me want to throw up. So stand up." She instructed.

He grinned and got to his feet before enveloping her in a hug; "I missed you so much." He told her rubbing a hand down her back; "You look amazing you know," he told her pulling away with a cheeky glint in his eye; "Pregnancy suits you." The Black Widow gave him one of her most deadly glares; "Uh-uh don't get angry, high blood pressure is bad for the baby." He said tapping her on the nose. It took every ounce of mental strength she had not to grab that finger and break it. He was enjoying this far too much.

"I'm the size of a whale Clint." She ground out, her glare never faltering; "This," she pointed at her enlarged stomach; "is never happening again. We're going to have you neutered or something, got it Hawk?" she threatened.

He brushed an errant stray hair from her face to behind her ear; "If you say so my spider." He whispered before capturing in her lips in a slow and sensual kiss, he smiled against her lips because she did not pull away, in fact she leaned further into him her large stomach pressing against him made his smile grow, he pulled away and placed both of his hands on her stomach; "I can't help but feel that there is something between us." Natasha rolled her eyes before taking hold of his hands and moving them to where the baby was currently kicking, his eyes widened slightly in shock, he hadn't felt the baby kick so strongly before, when he'd gone away to New Mexico he could just about make out the feel of the baby kicking, this however was most certainly a kick.

He was about to kiss her again when Phil arrived at his shoulder; "You might want to cut back on the PDA, you're flaunting your relationship, it is making the other agents jealous." Clint grinned at Natasha who was fighting a smile of her own.

"Maybe we should move our reunion to somewhere a little more private." He grinned at Tasha who smirked back at him before glancing at their handler who wasn't able to fight his own grin. He may have chastised them, but really he was extremely happy for the two of them, it had taken them a long time to get to this point.

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A/N: So there is the first chapter. I hope that you have enjoyed reading it. If you have please review/favourite/subscribe you know the drill. Thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

So you may have noticed that I am jumping back and forth to during the pregnancy and a few days after the baby is born. It won't always been like that but it is important that you know of the difference. Anyway here is chapter two, I really hope that you enjoy it as much as you did chapter one (even more so).

Thank you to all the people who reviewed, favourited or subscribed to this story.

Disclaimer; I don't own a thing, if I did Jeremy Renner would have his shirt off a lot more.

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Chapter 2

Clint watched as Tasha pulled the wailing baby close to her chest. This was certainly a sight that would still take a lot of getting used to, the deadly Black Widow cradling her infant daughter to her chest as she whispered to her in Russian. Clint placed a hand on her shoulder and stepped behind her so that her back was pressed against his front.

"Are you willing to reconsider my proposition yet?" he asked, his voice still rough from sleep.

Natasha turned to face him with a sly smile on her face, the newborn had quietened down and was now almost back to sleep; "You do know why I turned you down don't you?" she asked.

He nodded; "I seem to remember it had something to do with you being the size of a whale."

* * *

They had been lying together in bed, Natasha had been curled onto her side with Clint wrapped around her one hand placed on her stomach stroking it from time to time, he leaned in closer and pressed his lips to her shoulder before mumbling something into it.

Natasha had been on the edges of sleep and hadn't heard what he said; "Hmm?" she rolled over to face him, he scooted back a little bit to accommodate her large stomach; "What did you say?" she asked looking up into his eyes.

The archer smiled before licking his lips nervously; "I...wo-would you marry me?" he asked swallowing heavily once he'd finally said it. Natasha seemed lost for words, she stared at the archer as if he had grown an extra head, he laughed nervously; "And before you accuse me of only asking because you are pregnant, I'll have you know that I have been carrying a ring around with me for almost a year now."

"No." She told him sitting up and squirming slightly, the baby was pressing on her bladder making her need the toilet.

Clint also sat up; "Is that the end of the discussion?" he asked frowning at her looking hurt.

"No." She repeated; "Your baby is pressed against my bladder right now and I really need to pee, we will continue once I am back." She gave him a pointed look and he nodded slowly allowing her to go. Once she had returned he sat up facing her a wounded look colouring his gaze; "You can't ask me this now Clint." She told him with a frown.

"I told you that I've been wanting to ask you for almost a year!" he insisted.

She shook her head; "And you weren't sure, if you were you would have asked me when you first bought the ring. You only think you should marry me now because I'm pregnant." He moved to argue with her but she covered his lips with her finger; "Ask me again when we are up and 4 o'clock in the morning because this little one is screaming." She patted her stomach with a smile; "We'll see if you still want to marry me then." She told him with a small smile before climbing back into the bed.

"Okay, I'll ask you again then." He told her with a slight huff as he wrapped his arms around her once more.

"I'm sure you will my Hawk." She whispered into the night as sleep overtook her.

* * *

"If I looked like a whale it was your entire fault." She told him with a growl before swatting him with a hand as she rocked the baby who was now drifting off to sleep.

Clint gave her an amused look before prompting her again; "Well, are you ready to answer me?" He pulled a ring box from his pyjama trousers and quickly got down on one knee, Tasha couldn't help but laugh slightly at the sight.

"Have you had that in your pocket for a long time?" she asked with a smirk.

"Since the night she was born. You told me to ask you like this, I wanted to fulfil your wishes." He grinned cheekily at her; "Now please, my most deadly spider, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife." Natasha's expression was at once very serious.

She kissed baby Rose's head before placing her back in her cot.

Turning back to him she felt her heart beat quicken at the love she could see shining in his eyes; "I know that you've always said that 'love is for children' and you never wanted to get married again after what the Red Room did with Alexei, but I am not him and you are not the Natalia Romanova that married him." Her face was devoid of any emotions that would tell Clint what she was thinking, he inhaled deeply and continued; "I love you, I have loved you for so long. We have made this beautiful life together and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." She opened her mouth to interrupt but he held up his hand, he wasn't finished; "And I know that in our line of work one stray bullet could kill me tomorrow, but I need you to know that I am completely devoted to you and our daughter and I will fight every single day to keep you safe. Although of course you don't need me to fight your battles for you." A shiver ran down Natasha's spine, she hated him for knowing her so well, he had mentioned almost all of her fears in one single breath.

"Don't let me live to regret this Barton." She told him as she nodded slowly.

He had opened the ring box and was sliding it onto her finger before standing up and pulling her against him in a tight hug; "I promise you won't regret this." He told her before ducking his head to hers and stealing a kiss; "This, all of this will be worth all of the trouble we've been through to get it."

"Trouble," she muttered looking over the side of the crib as she nodded; "she certainly wasn't easy on me."

* * *

In Natasha's 8th month she experienced some bleeding, she had been sitting on the sofa of their shared living quarters when she felt something damp seeping through her underwear, she shifted uncomfortably for a moment or two before getting to her feet thinking that she needed the toilet, when she turned back to look at the grey sofa she realised that something was seriously wrong. She pressed the emergency call button that all the rooms had, just as a sharp pain ripped through her which knocked the wind out of her. She then grabbed her phone ready to call Clint, she hovered over the 'call' button for a second as she thought about it, he was on a mission and was due to return later that evening, a second pain caused her to almost drop the phone as the doctors entered her living quarters.

"I'm bleeding!" She managed to gasp out as three different doctors all fussed around her. She was moved up onto a gurney and wheeled to the medical bay, no one was talking to her they all rushed around taking readings and looking at computers, Natasha Romanoff was loathe to admit that she even felt fear but in this moment she was terrified. When the ultrasound machine was pulled over Tasha could tell that the doctors were really concerned.

It was Phil's friendly face that finally calmed Natasha, he arrived by her head as the doctors performed the ultrasound; "Hey, so what's happening?" he asked taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

A few doctors glanced his way; "The baby's heart rate has decreased slightly, we are concerned that Agent Romanoff may be experiencing a placenta previa," the doctor paused and at the confused expression on both the Agent's faces he explained; "A placenta previa is when the placenta has grown near to the cervix or it may be partially covering the cervix or it could be completely covering the cervix."

"I should call Clint." Natasha mumbled all colour had drained from her face, this must have been part of what the Red Room had done to her, it was almost too cruel to contemplate though, they would allow their Agents to become pregnant and then perhaps the agent would start bleeding and the Red Room would convince them that the baby had died. Natasha of course knew that if her baby had to be delivered now she would have an excellent chance of surviving, not least of all because of the fantastic doctors that were at her every beck and call on the helicarrier.

Phil pulled out his phone and turned to her; "I'll do it." He turned to one of the doctors; "Keep talking to her or she will rip your head off." He instructed before turning away to call Clint, the phone rang twice before Clint picked it up.

"Barton."

"Where are you?" Coulson asked trying to keep his tone neutral.

"Well that was friendly Phil. No, how'd the mission go? No, how is my favourite archer?"

"Sorry Clint," he paused, he didn't want the archer to panic but at the same time he could hardly beat around the bush making pleasantries; "it's Natasha..."

There was a long pause on the other end; "Is the baby okay?" he asked.

"At the moment yes, but the doctors are concerned." He paused and let his words sink in; "She started bleeding, the baby's heart rate began to decrease as well, she's in good hands though Clint." He then proceeded to explain to Clint what the Doctor had said might be wrong, Clint understood most of what Phil told him, while Natasha had refused to read any of the baby books he handed her, he had been nose deep in them since they had arrived.

"Right," Clint sounded subdued, he was clearly worried about Natasha and the baby; "I'm about half an hour out. I'll come straight to the medical bay. Tell her I'm on my way. Thanks Phil." He hung up and Phil put his phone back into his pocket before re-entering the room and moving back to stand by Natasha's head.

"How're you feeling?" Phil asked.

"Stressed." Natasha replied with a glare aimed at her doctor; "Apparently the bleeding has stopped...oh the bleeding, I-um...has the-"

"The clean up team has already dealt with it, don't worry." Coulson reassured her.

"Oh good. Thank you," she sagged backwards onto the bed her eyes slipped closed for a moment as she muttered; "When's Clint getting here?"

Coulson smiled at her predictability; "He said he's half an hour out, and I do not doubt that he will try to make sure he is here before then. You really have that man wrapped around your little finger don't you?" He asked with a warm smile.

Natasha found herself drifting off to sleep, the doctors were still fussing about her but the blood that she had lost and the late hour was starting to take its toll, by the time that she reopened her eyes Clint was sat by her bedside. He was talking to her stomach in hushed tones, she managed to catch the tail end of what he was saying; "...you can't do that again baby. You'll scare me half to death if you do that again." Tasha then became aware that he was gently stroking her stomach as he spoke to it.

"What took you so long?" she mumbled.

His eyes shot up to meet hers; "Hey," he whispered as he got to his feet and bent over the bed to press his lips to her forehead; "how are you feeling?" he asked.

She struggled into a sitting position and shrugged; "Okay I suppose...what happened? What did the doctor say?" she was desperate to know if they baby was okay.

Clint sighed, she had always been extremely inpatient so he was hardly surprised; "It is a partial placental previa, which means that you will have to be on bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy, if you disobey the doctor's orders you run the risk of haemorrhaging. When the baby is born it will need to be via C-section because of further complications that may arise..." he shrugged, he wasn't sure what the complications were; "It means your recovery time will be a lot longer. Fury won't clear you for active duty for over a month after the baby is born." He knew that while the baby was her main priority her job was also very important to her.

"Bed rest?" she grumbled pouting slightly; "Actually staying in the bed for another month?" she asked, when he nodded she sighed; "Well this is going to be dull." He gave her his best sympathetic look, he knew while she would be feeling aggravated at the same time she knew that it would be all for the best, for the life of their child.

* * *

"Barton! CLINT!" the bed was wet and the pains she had been telling herself were stomach cramps could be ignored no longer. Her waters had broken she was a week away from her due date and the last month of pregnancy had been almost entirely uneventful, bed rest had almost driven Natasha crazy but she had repeated to herself over and over that it would be worth it in the end. That end was now almost in sight.

The archer came rushing in; "What's..." he trailed off as he noticed the Black Widow's pale complexion and the thin sheen of sweat that covered her face; "Baby's coming?" he asked rushing to her side, she nodded and gritted her teeth as she rode out another contraction; "Okay, just hold on, I'll call the medical team, they are ready for you. Don't panic." His words came out in a rushed babble and Natasha tried to suppress her smile at how worried he sounded, his concern was truly touching.

"Okay," she said with a nod, when he hadn't moved she waved him away; "get on with it Clint. This baby isn't waiting!" Her words were very true and by the time the medical crew had arrived Natasha was in a lot of discomfort as the placenta previa began to cause trouble of its own. There was a lot of blood coating her legs and the sight of it made Clint feel as if the breath had been knocked out of him as he watched the doctors swarm around her. The doctors got her onto the gurney and hurried her from the room with Clint trailing behind them. The next few hours were some of the longest of Clint's life, only beaten to the top spot by any of the number of times he'd had to witness Natasha being tortured during a mission. Due to the fact that the doctors had to perform a tricky C-section he wasn't allowed to be in the operating theatre. Fury came to sit with him and keep him company while he waited.

"They are the best you know." He told him after the silence had become almost unbearable.

Clint nodded; "So everyone keeps telling me." He stared at the doors willing a doctor who come through them and tell him to come and meet his child; "That doesn't mean I won't worry about her until I see her."

Fury placed a reassuring hand on the archer's shoulder; "You should never doubt the resilience of your partner agent Barton. She would be furious at you if she knew that were doubting her ability to pull through this."

She would certainly shout at him later, she would roar at him in Russian for putting her through all that he had.

"She would mortally wound me for daring to doubt her the way I am." Clint muttered to himself just as a doctor burst through the double doors, Clint was up on his feet a second after he saw him; "Is she okay? The baby, has the baby been born?"

The doctor smiled at him with tired eyes, they had worked hard but she was fine, they were both fine; "You have a beautiful healthy baby girl Mr. Barton." He paused for a moment and let that information sink in, the archer's delighted grin was reward enough before the doctor gave him the second piece of good news; "Miss. Romanoff is also doing well. She is resting for the moment, you can come with me to see your daughter if you wish?"

Clint practically scoffed at the suggestion, he turned the doctor around and slung an arm over his shoulder before crying out; "Lead the way my man." He turned back to glance at the director who was smiling warmly at the archer as he marched through the double doors to go and meet his daughter.

* * *

A/N: There we go chapter 2, chapter three will be coming soon. Reviews are amazing. Thank you all for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

A shorter chapter this time, bit of a fluffy filler to be honest. Next chapter will skip forwards to the film time when baby Rose will be just over a year old. Any important life events for her that you would like revisited can of course be dealt with in a flash back so feel free to ask for things such as; first time she sits up, first time she crawls, first words and even first steps.

Also to do this I have been researching a lot about pregnancy and babies, so glad my mum can't see my internet search history.

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything.

* * *

Chapter 3

Natasha had been worried once they brought the baby home that she wouldn't be much of a mother, all of the conditioning she had gone through in the Red Room, all of the people she had killed. None of this sounded like the makings of a good mother. She had many specialist skills but they did not include how to change a nappy or in fact how to be loving to an infant. She hadn't told Clint of her worries and when he had kissed her cheek and slipped from their bed to go to work she had been gripped by an almighty panic. He must have noticed that something was wrong because he frowned at her and paused while getting dressed.

"Tasha? Are you okay?" he asked stepping closer to her.

She looked up, and despite the fact that she nodded her eyes must have betrayed her because he gave her a disbelieving look.

"What is it?" he asked with a frown.

The sound of Rose crying gave Natasha and out, she jumped to her feet and pushed past him towards Rose's bedroom, Clint let her go but moved to follow her, he wasn't going to let her get away from the conversation that easily. The baby's nappy needed changing, the thought of it made Natasha's heart drop into her stomach, she lay the squirming baby down on the changing table and turned to cast a glance over her shoulder at Clint who was watching her.

"You don't know what to do, do you?" he asked, his tone was soft and Tasha was pleased that he wasn't smirking at her; "Come on, I'll show you." He muttered, he'd had a lot of time on his mission in New Mexico to read every single baby book he could get his hands on. Natasha took a step back and watched as he calmly and efficiently managed to change baby Rose's nappy with little to no fuss from the baby.

"How did you- where did you learn that?" she asked stepping forwards again to scoop Rose up into her arms.

Clint shrugged; "I had some time."

* * *

Surveillance was dull at the best of times but staring at an oversized hammer that refused to budge was quite possibly the dullest assignment he had had to date. Even the occasional call from Natasha did little to alleviate the boredom that Clint was currently feeling. His handler could tell that it would slowly drive the archer insane if he didn't have something to do.

"Here." Coulson handed agent Barton three rather large books.

Clint looked confused; "What is this?" he asked turning them over in his hands inspecting each in turn; "Baby books?" he asked with a smile. He turned over the last book which was bigger than the other two, it was blue and was called; 'How to do just about everything.' Clint smirked and glanced up at his handler; "Do you really think I need that much help?" he asked.

"Neither of you are really equipped to be parents," he paused at Clint's frown; "not to say that you won't be brilliant at it. But I am pretty sure the Red Room didn't offer classes on 'how to be the perfect mum' and the circus didn't really help you on that front either." Clint pulled a face he knew his handler was right.

"Is it just your job to think of everything?" Clint asked with a grin.

Coulson nodded; "Of course it is." He tapped the large blue book; "That one also has tips on proposals, and how to know if she's the one." He told Barton with a sly smile before slipping away leaving the other man deep in thought. As it happened the book really did tell you how to do just about everything. He spent many days up in his nest, as he affectionately called it, reading the books that his handler had bought him certainly helped to pass the time. When he finally returned to Natasha he felt more than ready to be a father.

* * *

Natasha looked hurt, she turned and walked away from him and carried Rose back into the nursery where she sat with her in the rocking chair, Clint had followed.

"What have I done now?" he asked with a concerned frown.

She stroked the baby's head gently; "I thought we would be as lost as each other in this. But it seems as though you've had a crash course in parenting without telling me. I was on bed rest for a whole month, those books would have been very useful." She growled the last part, her Black Widow face was on; cold, hard and very very deadly.

He knew he'd done wrong, he should have offered her the help he had received; "I am so sorry Nat." He whispered falling to his knees beside the chair that creaked lightly as she rocked back and forth; "You know how I am, the thought never occurred to me."

She almost snapped at him but was mindful of raising her voice with the baby dozing against her shoulder; "You of all people should have thought. You know what the Red Room did, I don't have a childhood of my own to draw any reference from I am walking blind here." There were tears glistening in her eyes now.

Clint leaned up and cupped her cheek with his hand and brushed a thumb against it; "I'm an idiot Tash, please forgive me. I'll...I will teach you all that I know." She frowned at him for a moment longer before nodded slowly; "I'm guessing you don't want to be left alone with her just yet?" he asked and at her nod got to his feet; "I will call Fury and tell him that paperwork can wait a few more days. My fiancée and my family need me."

Natasha is unable to hide her smile; "If I were you, I wouldn't break the news to him like that."

The boyish smile that lit up his face warmed her; "You don't think he'd be too happy eh?" he asked leaning forwards to press a kiss to her lips before pressing a feather light kiss against the top of Rose's head; "I'll be back, then you can have; Hawkeye's crash course in parenting." He told her with a wink as he got to his feet. Natasha rolled her eyes theatrically at him as he walked away. He could be incredibly childish sometimes, but she knew she wouldn't have him any other way. He was the one who managed to keep her grounded when she had first made the transition from Red Room operative to SHIELD agent, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that if Barton hadn't been the one assigned her assassination she would be dead right now. She counted herself very lucky that Clint Barton made a different call.

* * *

When Rose was six weeks old she smiled for the first time. Natasha didn't know what to do with herself when she saw it, Clint was on a mission in France but she knew she had to tell him. He would be furious if he found out that Rose had smiled and Tasha hadn't told him. So she grabbed her phone and called him not stopping to think about time difference until she heard his groggy sleepy voice on the other end.

"Tasha? What's wrong?" he asked sounding half asleep still.

She looked at her watch and bit her lip; "Oh Clint, I'm so sorry, I didn't think about what time it would be for you. I..." suddenly she felt silly for calling him for something so trivial as this.

"Is Rose okay?" he asked now sounding slightly worried.

"She's fine, she smiled for the first time today." She told him, there was a long pause on the other end and Natasha was worried for a moment that he was angry that she'd called him to tell him that; "I know it's silly, but I just, I thought..." she trailed off uncertainly.

"Nat, it's okay." She could tell he was smiling, almost laughing at her; "Next time you'll have to take a picture so that you can show me. I would really like to see her smile."

Natasha sighed, relieved that he wasn't angry; "I promise I will do that. Next time I won't call you at a ridiculous time in the morning, I'll just send you a picture." She said sounding quite sheepish.

"That is very kind of you." He yawned.

Natasha took the hint; "I'll let you get back to sleep. Shoot straight and come back to us soon."

"You know I always do." Her archer added before whispering that he loved her and hanging up.

The Black Widow turned to her infant daughter who gurgled at her happily while waving her arms around; "Your daddy loves us very much." She told the baby who made a rasping noise before she squealed with joy; "He has promised me that he'll be back with us soon, don't worry little one you'll be able to show him your beautiful smile soon enough." Natasha smiled to herself as she thought about how far she had come from the cold hearted contract killer she was when she'd first met Clint. She hardly recognised herself, the murderer she once was had never even contemplated a family but here she was literally holding her own baby with a diamond ring on the ring finger of her left hand. She smiled and reached down to place a hand on Rose's stomach, the small baby smiled again and Natasha grinned back as she pulled out her phone to take a picture for Clint.

* * *

She had waited until a more reasonable hour to send the picture so Clint had just finished his mission and was packing away his bow when his phone buzzed, he pulled it out and saw that it was a picture message from Natasha. He opened it and his heart leaped into his throat, the sight of his daughter knocked the wind out of him. He was overwhelmed with a need to see both his daughter and his fiancée. He closed the message and began calling his handler to report that the mission had been a success and that he was on his way home.

"I'll be taking a few days off." He informed Coulson.

"Okay." Came the unsurprised reply.

Clint smiled; "You don't want to know why?" he asked as he headed towards his extraction point.

"You forget how well I know you agent Barton. Also you forget that your fiancée tells me almost everything she tells you. Your daughter smiled for the first time yesterday, and if I am not mistaken you wish to spend some quality time with her?" it wasn't really a question, he knew that he was correct, there wasn't much he didn't know about his agents' behaviour.

Clint grumbled to himself; "She should have let me tell you." He was pouting; "Did she show you the picture?" he asked his excitement already returning.

Phil laughed; "She showed me Rose's smile in the flesh. But don't worry Dad you'll be able to see it for yourself very soon. Have a safe ride home agent Barton." His handler knew that Clint wouldn't exactly be pleased that he had seen Rose's smile first but the archer knew better than to hold it against him.

* * *

A/N: Not my best, but bare with me it will certainly get better. Anyway, tell me what you think and of course feel free to request any moments I may have missed out from Rose's life. Reviews are wonderful.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the delay, I would have finished this and posted it sooner but my mum was taken into hospital last Wednesday so I haven't had the time or the focus or the energy to write anything. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned something, still don't.

Chapter 4

"Barton's been compromised." The words were still ringing in her mind as she stalked away from the warehouse in Russia, she pulled out her phone and called Maria, she needed to know that Rose was okay before she flew to India to face the 'big guy' as Phil had called him.

"Hill." Her clipped tone was one that the Black Widow was familiar with.

"Talk to me." She wouldn't beat about the bush; she knew that Hill had been there when Clint had been 'compromised'.

"Agent Romanoff, it would probably be best if you waited until you were back from Russia to get all of the information about Barton's disappearance." Maria Hill knew the Black Widow better than Natasha would like to admit.

"Is Rose okay?" she asked feeling her throat tighten at the thought of her daughter in any kind of danger.

Hill smiled to herself; "Your daughter is safe Natasha." Maria assured the Black Widow; "She'll be here when you get back from your mission."

* * *

Natasha nodded to herself, she had to hope that even under this so called gods control Clint would be able to protect their daughter from harm; "Okay then, I will be taking a short detour to India, Coulson has instructed me to get Dr. Banner but I would like to have some back up with me on this one." Maria agreed that she could have it and once Natasha had hung up she made the necessary calls to give the Black Widow the backup she required to deal with the Hulk. Natasha's walk slowed slightly as she thought about Clint again, this so called god would have a lot to answer for if her archer was hurt in any way.

Loki's cold gaze ripped through the quiet thoughts of his mind. Clint was replaying the shots he had taken at Hill and Fury again and again, the god knew that the master assassin shouldn't have missed those shots.

"Stop fighting it." Loki told him with a grin; "It will only hurt more if you fight it. Just give in to the power, there is so much that the Tesseract can show you." Clint's hands were shaking, his fists were clenching and unclenching he didn't want to feel the power that was slowly washing over him, he didn't want to keep doing as Loki commanded but he found that he couldn't help himself, at the god's instruction he relaxed himself to it and let the Tesseract fill him up just before it took away all that he was he managed to lock away all the memories he had of Natasha being pregnant and of Rose. It wouldn't do him any good for Loki to know about any type of weakness. "Now agent Barton." His voice was smooth but it made the hairs on Clint's arm stand on end; "What do you see?" he asked waiting for the archer to open his eyes.

"My next target." Came the archer's reply.

Loki leaned back, he seemed more than satisfied with that.

* * *

The helicarrier was busy, Natasha was showing Dr. Banner and Steve Rogers around when all she really wanted to do was see her daughter, after the previous night's battle with Loki and Thor's interruption she had been without Rose for entirely too long, she passed the men off to Maria who smiled at her and nodded in understanding.

"Where is she going?" Banner enquired as they watched her practically run down the halls.

"She has someone she needs to go and see. Don't worry about it. The main deck is this way, the Director will want to debrief you." She told him leading them both in the opposite direction.

Natasha broke into a sprint once she had rounded the corner, when she arrived at her room she took a moment to catch her breath before pushing through the door, she relieved the lesser agent who was watching over her daughter. At the sight of her mother Rose grinned a big toothless smile before calling out; "Mama." As she waved her arms. Natasha wasted no time in gather her daughter into her arms and hugging her to her chest. The toddler snuggled closer to her mother and rested her head on her shoulder.

"Romanoff." The Director's stern voice cut through her moment of peace; "Sorry to disrupt your reunion but we need you on the main deck." Natasha took a moment to inhale the scent that was unique to her daughter.

"Yes sir, I'll be there soon." Natasha moved Rose back to her crib, the infant whimpered and began to cry reaching out for her mother.

"No, mama." She called out as big fat tears rolled down her chubby cheeks.

An internal battle raged as she locked eyes with the 14-month-old child before her, the blue grey that she had inherited from her father shimmered behind her tears; "You are such a weakness my little one." She told her as she lifted the child back into her arms; "You're going to get me into trouble." She whispered as the toddler wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. The stares she received as she walked down the corridors with the child clinging to her as if her life depended on it were nothing new, Tasha was more that used to receiving strange looks. As she entered the main deck Maria intercepted her.

"What are you doing?" she asked her jaw was tight and her gaze drifted to the group of men all gathered around the table.

Natasha shrugged and bounced the small child on her hip, the others hadn't noticed yet; "She kicked up a fuss, when Clint isn't there she hates it when I leave her." The agents locked eyes and Natasha knew that Maria wanted to say so much more but instead she held out her arms for Rose; "I can-"

"You need to do your job for the moment. She'll be right here when you're finished." Hill told the other woman who reluctantly relinquished her hold on her daughter. The toddler went happily to Maria clapping her hands together and making joyful squealing noises as she went.

Before Natasha had even looked up she knew that they would be staring, if they hadn't noticed her come in with Rose, the noises her baby was now making was sure to draw their attention. She met Stark's eyes first, he had an eyebrow raised and was clearly doing his very best not to look surprised, he wasn't exactly succeeding. The Black Widow cast her best stoic expression over at all of the men, all of whom turned away and tried to pretend they hadn't been staring. All except Tony that is.

"Wouldn't have put you down as the mothering type Agent Romanoff..." he commented with a sly smirk.

Natasha rolled her eyes as she moved to sit down; "Believe me I was surprised as anyone." She told him with her best deadly glare. The others didn't make another comment about the baby until they were leaving.

Maria passed Rose back to her mother, the 14-month-old was half asleep and nuzzled into the crook of her mother's neck; "What is her name?" Banner asked approaching the trio while keeping his voice low so as not to wake the baby.

"Rose." Natasha told him eyeing him warily.

"She's beautiful." He complimented as he reached out to brush a stray red curl away from her face; "Who is the father?" he asked keeping his eyes on the child in front of him. If he had been more aware he would have seen that the deadly Black Widow was glaring at him. When he did look up it was because his question had gone unanswered for some time; "Oh..." he stammered as he realised that the question hadn't gone down too well with the Black Widow; "I-umm, don't uhh." He removed his glasses and started to clean them nervously.

"Agent Romanoff." Maria's tone was full of warning, the Black Widow transfers her glare to the agent before letting her features soften slightly.

Natasha lifted the sleeping infant a little higher in her arms; "Sorry, I don't want to talk about that." She responded in a clipped tone; "I'll see you later Dr. Banner." She told him before turning away, her jaw clenched tight as she ran a hand down her daughter's back and walked towards her living quarters. Once Natasha was in the room with the door closed behind her she let out the breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. Her heart was pounding painfully quickly against her ribcage and there was a stinging behind her eyes that she hadn't felt for a long time; "Come back to us Clint." She whispered against her daughter's head as she fought the tears back and pulled her best Black Widow face to try and remain neutral. Emotions made you weak and love was for children.

* * *

When the god of mischief looked at her she felt as if he could see straight into her soul. She felt like a fraud standing in front of him. She of course would never let him know that, every word she spoke was carefully measured and calculated. She needed Loki to think that he was in control. Getting information out of difficult targets was her thing, it was something that she had always excelled at.

"Is this love agent Romanoff." He sounds amused.

"Love is for children I owe him a debt." Is her automatic reply, it doesn't come without a pang of pain as she thinks of their daughter.

The amused look on the god's face grows slightly as he baits her; "Your world hangs in the balance and you bargain for one man..."

"Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian. Or I was..." she tries to sound flippant but he is getting bored of her now, she can see it in his eyes, idle chitchat is done with, he is being serious now.

"Barton told me everything." Those words freeze the blood in her veins, as she wonders how much Barton has really told him, how much does he think 'everything' is.

It takes a lot to keep her face neutral as he continues, as she listens she realises that he wants to see emotion, he wants to know that he's got to her, so that is exactly was she gives him, she turns away and whimpers; "You're a monster."

He laughs at that before giving himself away; "Oh no. You brought the monster."

She turns to face him once more, façade back in place as she turns her head to one side studying him carefully; "So, Banner? That's your play." She fights a smile as the god of mischief looks stunned.

"What?" she'd managed to trick the trickster, this was something he wasn't used to.

She almost grinned as she thanked him and hurried from the room, she now had a job to do, Rose was being looked after by a SHIELD agent so she knew she didn't need to worry about her however just because she didn't need to worry that didn't mean that she wouldn't.

* * *

Fighting Clint wasn't anything new, they used to spar with one another almost every day, however Tasha is feeling a little rusty and can't read him as well as she normally can. Whether that is because of the Tesseract's power, or because she hasn't sparred with him since before she was pregnant. His moves feel off though, she's half a second behind him every time and she knows how much that could cost them both if she lets him get close enough. They're grappling with each other fighting for control literally pulling each other's hair and biting until she managed to get the upper hand and used her weight to pull him down and smack his head against the metal pole of the railing. He grunted as he slipped to the floor.

"Tash." Was all he managed to whisper out before she kicked out with her right leg and knocking him flat on his back.

Natasha radioed in to inform the other agents that she had subdued her fiancé, she of course did not phrase it as such but she couldn't stop her heart from beating a little faster at the thought, she hoped that she now had him back. She had gazed into his eyes for the briefest of moments before knocking him out and they had seemed a more natural colour, she knew though that her feelings could be making her judgement unreliable at the moment. She decided it would be best to wait until he woke up to see if he was really back.

* * *

A/N: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter, I personally think that it has been my favourite to write so far. Reviews are wonderful they help me write faster. Also again if you want to request any moments from Rose's life that I have missed out feel free to send me a message.


	5. Chapter 5

Here we have chapter 5 with another little flashback from before Rose. Anyhoo, I hope that you enjoy this chapter, not sure how many more I will do, we'll see how much more trouble I can get all of them into.

* * *

Chapter 5

Her steely cold gaze was difficult to maintain when all she really felt was overwhelming relief, he was pulling at his restraints and grunting in pain, but his eyes were completely back to normal. He was him again, she knew it without a doubt.

"You'll be alright." She told him with as much conviction as she could muster, she still isn't quite sure that he will be. Guilt would weigh heavy on his shoulders, she knew him well enough to know that much. He of course asked her how many people he had killed and while she refused to tell him she knew that he would be able to get it out of her sooner or later. She confided in him that she had been compromised, the way he looked into her eyes in that moment told her that he knew exactly what she was really trying to say.

"Where's Rose?" he asked suddenly worried.

She offered him a small smile and took his hand; "An agent is looking after her, I can call them to bring her if you want?" she offered, before he nodded she was already on her feet moving to the wall to press the intercom, Clint took the time to get himself cleaned up. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, the bags under his eyes weren't as bad as they had been and he felt more alert, he remembered flashes of the awful things that he had done.

He hears a deep male voice coming from the main room asking if Natasha can fly one of the aircraft that the helicarrier holds before she has the chance to answer Barton chooses to step forwards out of the bathroom; "I can." He informs Steve Rogers.

Clint doesn't miss the look that Captain America sends Natasha's way, he is silently asking if Hawkeye can now be trusted, at her almost imperceptible nod Steve turns back to the archer once more; "You got a suit?" he answers in the affirmative; "then suit up."

"We'll drop in to see Rose on our way to the jet..." Natasha offers once Steve has gone.

Clint pulls a face, he isn't sure he will be able to let her go if he takes her into his arms now; "I," he almost says that he can't right now, he still feels unclean after all of the deaths he has on his hands, but the thought of not seeing her is more painful than he cares to admit; "Yes." He says with a curt nod.

* * *

They are both in their suits when they drop into their living quarters, the agent looking after her gets up to leave but Natasha tells her to wait as they won't be staying for long. Rose is fast asleep and Clint doesn't have the heart to wake her. He has tears in his eyes as he looks down at her, her innocence feels like enough to absolve him of all of his crimes.

"She'll still be here when we get back Clint." She tells him as she watches the faraway look in his eyes.

He glances at her for a moment before nodding; "I know, I just- she is good therapy, she helps me to forget." Natasha nods she remembers well enough how she had felt the day Rose had been born, looking into her daughter's eyes had felt like forgiveness.

Natasha placed a careful hand on his shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze; "She makes everything feel worth it." She confided, a soft smile graced her features.

Clint tore his gaze from his daughter and focused on his fiancée; "We've got a job to do." Natasha nodded slowly before pressing a kiss to the tips of her fingers and placing them on her daughter's forehead. They had a world to save, the Avengers were needed and Rose's parents would see her soon, they would then be able to have a proper reunion.

* * *

"Er, Nat?" the concern in his voice was evident; "What are you doing?" he asked knocking up another arrow, once he loosed it he focused on what his fiancée was saying, she was currently riding on one of the Chitauri ships clinging on for dear life as she fought off one of the aliens as they tried to regain control of the aircraft. She was crazy, but of course he already knew that, his own heart was pounding loudly in his ears as fear gripped him.

"A little help?" she asked through tightly gritted teeth.

He was of course happy to oblige, he released another arrow and knocked the Chitauri from the craft and away from Natasha, she flashed a quick smile in his direction knowing that his excellent eyesight would catch it. She flew the craft to the roof where Selvig was guarding the device that was keeping the portal open. Fortunately for Natasha he didn't seem to be doing much guarding at that moment in time, he even provided her with a way to close the portal.

* * *

Shawarma was amazing, but perhaps that was the adrenaline talking, Natasha was pretty sure that anything she ate at the moment would taste like the greatest meal that had ever passed through her lips. Clint lifted his leg to rest it against her chair, his foot brushed her hip and drew her attention towards him. He was smirking at her, they had a silent conversation which involved Clint asking when they could get back to their daughter.

"Later." She spoke aloud drawing the attention of the rest of the group.

"The bird? Really?" Tony had spluttered almost spitting some of his shawarma out as he laughed; "He's the father?" Iron Man scoffed.

The Black Widow trained one of her most deadly glares on the billionaire; "How did you get that from her saying; 'Later'." Inquired Steve Rogers as he and the others at the table glanced around at the three who were currently locked in what appeared to be a staring competition.

"Genius remember." Stark replied curtly never taking his eyes from the two deadly master assassins sat across from him.

Clint leaned forwards slightly, letting his leg slip from the chair onto the floor as he patted his fiancée's shoulder; "I can see what you meant. It is a miracle you didn't kill him while you were with Stark industries the first time." His smile caused the others at the table to visibly relax as they noticed the Black Widow sit back in her seat as the slightest twitch at the corner of her mouth told them that she wasn't angry anymore. As Clint's comment registered with the other Avengers they all let out uneasy laughs while eying the dangerous assassin carefully; "We, should probably be getting back to our daughter though. Coulson will be angry as us for taking so long-" his easy smile faltered as he noticed the way all of them had stiffened slightly at his handler's name. He turned to Natasha for confirmation, she wouldn't meet his gaze, that was all he needed; "How?" he asked his voice suddenly sounding small and broken and entirely un-Clint like.

It was the god of Thunder who spoke up; "My brother, he stabbed Son of Coul. I am sorry Archer the Director told us of his untimely demise." Clint didn't look convinced his face had changed from upset to sceptical.

"None of you saw him die though?" he asked getting to his feet.

Natasha moved with him; "I know you don't trust Fury, but would he lie about this?" she asked reaching for him.

Clint snatched his arm away; "He lied about you once!" he snapped back the memory still raw in his mind.

* * *

Their partnership had just moved into that place between friends and lovers and she was being sent on a top secret solo mission, Clint wasn't even told where she was going, it would drive him crazy to not know where she was. She refused to give him even the smallest hint.

"No Clint. I signed four different secrecy forms, I can't tell you. Or I'd-" She was cut off.

"Have to kill me?" he scoffed; "You've threatened that one more than once." He moved closer to her and placed his hands on her hips, she tensed for a moment, the new intimacy in their relationship was still alien to her; "Just give me some clue." He whispered, his breath ghosting over her shoulder.

She spun around in his embrace and scowled at him; "Listen to me Clint, telling you would put me in danger so I'm not going to compromise myself like that." She glanced up into his eyes before allowing her features to soften slightly; "I know you're worried about me, but I've been doing this a lot longer than we've been partners." It was the archer's turn to scowl down at her before he huffed out a sigh and bowed his head slightly to press his lip against hers. He pulled her flush against him and deepened the kiss while winding his fingers into her hair.

"You'll come back though?" he knew he sounded pathetic and her affectionate smirk told him as such.

"You can't get rid of me that easily." She told him as she stepped away and finished packing her things, he watched her and smiled to himself, they were keeping their relationship a secret, fraternisation between agents was frowned upon, forming attachments was dangerous in their line of work. Clint would soon find out exactly how dangerous.

* * *

She'd been gone for about a week when he was called into the Director's office, he would be glad of any distraction and hoped that it would be a mission somewhere far away from the helicarrier. Everything here reminded him that she wasn't here, he needed to get out. He walked into Fury's office and sank into a seat in front of him.

"So what've you got for me?" he began cheerily, then he noticed the look on Fury's face, he looked angry; "What's going on?" he asked a frown colouring his features.

"The Black Widow," Clint felt his heart clench tightly in his chest at the mention of her name; "she failed to report in." It had only been a week, surely they weren't worried about her yet, Phil appeared in the doorway he looked sad, Clint's heart was racing now, he felt like his blood had been replaced with ice as the Director continued; "The rescue team found a body."

That couldn't be true, she'd promised to come back to him, she had promised him; "Where?" he whispered the word, he was trying his hardest to keep his face as neutral as possible, he felt his handler place a hand on his shoulder.

"Budapest." Came Fury's reply.

Clint was out of the room and sprinting down corridor, he didn't know where he was going he just needed to get away, she couldn't be dead, he slowed to a walk when he reached his living quarters and went inside his heart still hammering loudly against his ribs; "Always Budapest." He muttered to himself, he knew now why she would have been reluctant to tell him where she was going even if she hadn't been forced not to. They had always had the worst luck in Budapest, the first mission where one of them had been seriously injured had happened in Budapest a stray bullet had ripped through Clint's body armour and punctured his lung. Ever since then neither of them had liked Budapest all that much. Now Clint hated it.

"Clint." A voice at the door caused him to look up at his handler; "I knew," there was a pause as the archer looked confused; "about your relationship, I knew that you and Natasha were together and I'm sorry." He sank into the seat beside Clint and watched him for a moment.

Clint sighed heavily; "It had to be Budapest didn't it?" he asked ruefully staring down at his hands; "She promised me she'd come back."

"You of all people know it isn't that simple." Phil whispered knowing it would offer the archer little to no comfort.

There was a long heavy silence while the archer and his handler thought about the woman they had lost, Clint knew that Phil would be hurt in his own way, he had taken Natasha under his wing the moment that Clint had brought her in this wouldn't be easy on either of them; "I guess we should start arrange the funeral then." Clint whispered managing somehow to keep his voice steady.

"You don't have to do that. SHIELD will sort everything out." Phil reassured him.

Clint turned away angrily; "No, no she isn't going to have a faceless SHIELD funeral, she can't. She's so much more than that. She wouldn't want that."

Phil wasn't convinced; "She wouldn't want anyone to make a fuss."

* * *

Fury allowed both Clint and Phil to plan a whole funeral before he put them out of their misery, Clint swung for him and even with one eye the Director should have managed to dodge it, perhaps he felt he deserved the blow that came from the archer.

"You bastard!" he was doing well not to scream but his raised voice and throbbing hand gave away how truly angry he was.

"Agent Barton, control yourself." Was all Fury said, he chose to not even reprimand his agent for punching him.

Phil placed a firm hand on Clint's shoulder and pulled him down into a seat, the same one he'd sat in when Fury had told him she was dead; "So what exactly happened Director?" Phil's voice was steady but Clint could tell that he was barely holding back his own anger.

Fury took a seat opposite Clint and took a deep breath before addressing the two furious men in front of him; "She needed to die. The mission went south and she was in trouble, the best solution was to have her killed in action. It meant that she had a chance to get away."

"Do you not trust us?" Clint asked through gritted teeth; "Unless Tasha gave away who she worked for they wouldn't know about us."

"We couldn't be sure agent Barton, it wasn't safe. It is safe now and agent Romanoff will be home by tomorrow. I'm sorry I had to lie to you, but it was for her safety. You must understand that." Clint glared, of course he understood but that didn't make him feel any better about it, he excused himself and walked out of the director's office he felt completely different, she was alive, she was coming back to him, he wasn't sure he would ever trust Fury completely again.

* * *

"He left me thinking you were dead for almost two weeks. Phil and I had planned your funeral Tasha!" Clint shouted angrily, the other Avengers watched the exchange in a muted silence, Clint turned to them; "He uses death as a manipulator." He glared at the group; "Were you working together before Phil died?"

Tony pulled a face; "Kinda." He offered unconvincingly.

"We weren't working together at all. We'd turned the director down, we'd lost both Thor and the Hulk we didn't know what to fight for." Captain Steve Rogers muttered glancing around guiltily at the group; "After he told us Coulson was dead, he showed us some classic cards that he had in his pocket, they were stained with blood..." he trailed off and glanced at Tony.

"He gave us something, someone to fight for. Someone who was important to all of us." Stark finished turning to look at Clint who still looked unconvinced.

"Thor saw Loki stab him." Natasha was trying to be the reasonable one, of course they all wanted to believe that Coulson was still alive but having hope was almost as dangerous as forming an attachment to someone, so having a hope that someone you were attached to wasn't dead was almost lethal.

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A/N: There we go chapter 5, hopefully you all enjoyed it anyway chapter 6 coming soon. Reviews are love. Thanks to all those who have favourited and subscribed or reviewed already.


	6. Chapter 6

Here is chapter 6 sorry it took so long but I went back to work and that meant I didn't have as much time to write. Anyhoo I hope you all enjoy this chapter we get to see a little bit more interaction between the other Avengers.

Disclaimer: Wish I owned something.

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Chapter 6

The journey back to the helicarrier felt longer than usual, the group weren't talking to one another, the possibility that they had been lied to hung heavily in the air. Clint hand taken hold of Natasha's hand, she glanced at him and offered her best reassuring glance, she wasn't sure if she wanted to believe that Coulson was actually alive, the thought that Fury had lied to them again was a little too difficult to swallow. The director was waiting for them when they landed, he had been expecting their questions. Maria Hill was also waiting to meet them and alongside her was Agent Phil Coulson with Rose Barton in his arms.

Tony Stark was the first one to speak; "You lied." He hissed at the director; "Again apparently." He said waving at Clint and Natasha who had gone to greet their daughter and her godfather.

The Agent who was the subject of the lies cleared his throat as he passed Clint his daughter; "It was my idea. I was injured as Thor saw and it was rather serious," he paused and moved his shirt aside to show a rather large bandage; "SHIELD fixed me up, but we decided that it would give you something to fight for. I'd already seen what that sort of information could do to one of your number." He glanced at Clint who pulled his eyes away from his daughter to glare at his handler.

"So you took notice of my pain? That influenced your decision?" He raised his voice angrily which caused Rose to whimper in distress, Clint passed her to her mother and narrowed his gaze angrily at Phil; "You lied to get what you wanted."

Agent Coulson pulled a face; "And it saved the world agent Barton! You all saved the world. You stopped a mad god and his army of aliens all because you thought that he had killed one man. But is that really why you did it? You all knew it was the right thing to do really, you just needed something to fight for, you needed a push." He turned to the director; "Thanks for ruining my vintage one of a kind Captain America cards by the way sir, I think that was really the push they needed."

"It wasn't in your pocket?" Steve asked looking almost lost as the realisation hit him.

The director shook his head; "It wasn't. We...I felt that you just needed an extra push. The cards proved to be just that." He didn't seem very apologetic.

"You are a piece of work you know that." The archer growled taking a threatening step forwards; "You lied, again. How are we supposed to trust you after this?" he asked his gaze drifting from the director to his handler and back again.

Coulson stepped closer to his friend; "I'm sorry Clint, it was tactless but it served a purpose."

"We needed you," the director spoke up; "to save the world. You did what was required, I am sure that if a similar problem arose in the future we wouldn't need to use such underhanded tactics to get you to work together. You make such a great team."

"There were better ways to get us to work together director." Natasha said glaring at him as she took Clint's hand and pulled him back towards her; "But I suppose we should have known that you would do whatever it took to force us into your precious Avengers initiative. No matter who got hurt." She growled as her grip tightening on Clint's hand. The director shifted his stance slightly and leaned back to glare with his good eye at the heroes who had saved New York, he was about to reply but it seemed that the Black Widow was not quite finished with him; "I quit." She spat the two words out as if they were poison.

Clint glanced back at his fiancé before catching the hurt expression on Coulson's face; "Me too." He nodded agreeing with her; "You can't expect us to work for you after this. You've lied to us one too many times." He added looking grim.

"You're welcome at Stark tower if you need a place to live." Tony interjected which earned him a glare from the director.

"You're sure about this?" Fury asked looking more than a little concerned, he knew this was a big deal, SHIELD had saved both of them from awful lives; "You know what you are giving up?" he asks trying to keep his voice level.

Natasha tried to keep her face as passive as possible as she replied; "We know, or at least I know. You've given us so much, but at the same time you've cost us a lot. We're new people because of you, we also have each other," she paused and bounced Rose on her hip as if to make the point that without SHEILD they also wouldn't have their daughter; "but if we can't trust the people we are supposed to be working for we who can we trust?" her best Black Widow glare was cutting through both the director and Agent Coulson.

Maria decided that now would be a good time to add her thoughts on the matter; "I understand where you're coming from," she began taking a measured step towards them; "I felt as betrayed as you did when I found out they lied. But here's the thing, you walk away from this and what've you got? Neither of you have ever been very good at domestic." Maria ignored the glares she was receiving from both assassins; "What I mean to say is, we're all you have."

"That's the best you've got?" Natasha asked stroking her daughter's hair.

Steve had heard enough; "You forced us together in the first place and now here we are. This ticking time bomb turned out pretty good, you have to face the consequences of what you have done. You've lost them. And we've gained them." The director stood stunned glaring at the group almost daring them to agree with him, they all rose to the challenge and nodded along.

"What Cap' said. We're a team now, for better or for worse." Tony grinned as he nodded at the two assassins; "Till death do us part." He grinned and placed an arm around each of them as he led them into the helicarrier; "Come on let's get your things. You are going to love what I have planned for your living quarters. Mini-assassin over there is going to love her room." Natasha and Clint let him lead them away, this was originally an uneasy friendship built on grief now it was being forged in a united anger, Clint wondered which one was worse. He remembered a similar situation when he and Natasha had first met, things hadn't been so bad for them.

* * *

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend?" She muttered the idiom questioningly as she pulled against the ties that he had placed around her wrists. She wasn't really trying to escape, she had after all agreed to come quietly.

Clint had chosen not to completely trust her, she could respect that, he looked up and quirked an uneasy smile; "You could say that." He told her smoothly before returning to his report. He was trying to come up with a good excuse for not killing her, so far he had come up with; 'pretty, good with knives, good with guns and good at hand to hand combat.' If he was being completely honest she was more than pretty and she was a lot more than good at all of the other things, but he couldn't oversell her or Coulson would think that he was only interested in her for her face and beautiful body, he bit his lip and scribbled out; 'pretty' it could save him a little bit of explaining.

"So what do you want with me archer?" she asked relaxing against her ties and glaring at the sharpshooter; "What kind of job could you possibly offer me?"

Clint looked up from his report and smiled at her; "We have a common enemy I thought that would be enough." He paused as she narrowed her gaze into a glare; "The people who hired you also hired a man to kill you once you had done your job." Her glare turned into a slightly confused frown, clearly she hadn't known; "The people I work for, SHIELD, they don't like the people you worked for, they sent me to eliminate you, but I can see that you have skills that could be useful to us."

"That's all people see when they look at me, a set of skills. I am a killing machine that everyone wishes they had control of." She mutters bitterly.

Clint realises that he could have phrased it better but he also knows that explaining to her his true meaning would take far too long; "You know I didn't mean it like that,"

"I don't actually, I know nothing about you except that you are handy with a bow and you somehow managed to outsmart me." Clint chuckled at that, he was rather proud that he had managed to knock her out, if it had come down to hand to hand combat he would never have been able to take her in and would probably be dead in the bottom of some ditch right now.

"I've seen only a fraction of what you are capable of and I am impressed. If we work together against your former employers I think we could make a good team." Her face remained passive which was better than her glaring he supposed. That had been their uneasy beginning, forced together by Clint's ability to see the good in people. They hadn't been the best of friends straight away, in fact at first Clint had really regretted bringing her back with him his frustration peaked when they were on their third mission.

* * *

The heavy gun fire she was under was nothing new, the threat she was facing was a little bit different however, she wasn't really used to being one of the 'good guys' just yet. The strangest thing for her was having someone watching her back and whispering orders in her ear.

"Widow you have to get to some better cover I can't help you if I can't see you." Hissed Hawkeye into her ear, she muttered a few choice swear words in Russian as she tried to get a look at where the bullets were coming from; "Come on Widow if you don't move soon I am coming to find you." His voice was louder this time and if Natasha didn't know any better she would think that he was worried about her.

"Hold on Hawkeye, I'm going to head for the third crate on the right please try to cover me and while I am running maintain radio silence." That was her polite way of saying; 'Okay I heard you now shut up please.' Clint chuckled to himself as he muted his communicator so that she couldn't hear him.

He loosed a few arrows affording Natasha all the cover that he could while he couldn't see her. When he adjudged that she should have reached the crate that she had indicated he glanced down to where she should have been and sighed before turning his communicator back on; "Black Widow status?" he requested with a heavy sigh as he shifted his position so he could get a better view of the enemy who were still shooting blindly at the crates. Clint was met with silence; "Black Widow," he paused trying to keep his voice quiet; "report." He instructed but was once again met with silence. There was a chance that she had accidentally muted him when she'd turned her com off, but Clint knew that Natasha had a frustrating habit of removing her communicator when she felt that Hawkeye was being annoying. There was also the chance that she was injured but Clint couldn't allow himself to think about that, with deadly accuracy he felled the last three men with an explosive arrow which shook the room.

"Natasha?" he called out jumping from his perch to try and find her. He searched around each crate carefully until he found her leaning up against one clutching her thigh as blood bloomed from between her fingers; "You took your com off against didn't you?" he accused as he crouched down beside her, he pulled a bandage out of a pouch on his belt and wrapped it none too gently around her leg.

She grunted loudly as he continued to wrap her; "You wouldn't stop talking Hawk." She growled as she pulled her hand away from her leg and wiped her blood on her suit.

"I need to know where you are Natasha!" he chastised his anger growing as he pulled her to her feet, she resisted trying to stand on her own, Clint let her go and watched as she limped towards the exit, the mission had been a success, they had retrieved the information that SHIELD needed and had removed any threat that could have been posed. Clint didn't let her know how angry he really was until they were in the medical bay of the helicarrier, he had screamed and shouted at her so much that Phil had come to stand by the door concerned that he would need to separate them. Once he had stormed out Natasha turned to Coulson looking annoyed.

"Why must I work with him?" she asked, glaring at her handler.

Phil smiled slightly; "Because no one else would. He is the only agent who would dare to speak to you like that. You should be happy you have a partner who cares that much about you." He told her as he moved further into the room.

"He doesn't care about me." She muttered pulling at the cannula in her right hand; "He just couldn't bear the thought of leaving a man behind. That would tarnish his perfect record and he couldn't have that." She spat out bitterly.

Phil smirked slightly as she shook his head; "Clint Barton's record is anything but perfect. His life would actually be a lot easier if you weren't around but you're his partner and like it or not he cares about what happens to you and would prefer it if you stayed alive." Coulson allowed his words to sink in as he moved closer to the door to leave; "Maybe next time you should keep your com turned on. All this stress isn't good for Agent Barton's blood pressure." Their partnership had gotten a lot easier from that day, Clint didn't find out about Phil's talk with Natasha until several months later when he asked her why she changed so suddenly. Their partnership became legendary and people assumed they started sleeping with one another long before they actually did because of how well they could read each other.

Once they had collected all of their things Tony had told them to meet him on the top deck where they would be 'picked up'. Clint now had Rose in his arms, she had her head resting against his shoulder and was humming quietly to herself a song that Clint had heard Natasha singing to help get their daughter to sleep. Clint felt lucky to have his family back, he didn't like to think about how close he had come to losing them. The helicopter arrived soon after Banner and Rogers did, it was so typically Stark that Clint could practically hear Natasha rolling her eyes at the sight, it was bright red and gold and there was very loud music coming out of it.

The noise caused Rose to stir and start to whimper; "Shh shh, it's okay sweetie." Clint turned away from the helicopter and rocked Rose slowly to try and lull her back to sleep, he wasn't about to have any luck with the noise still blaring, apparently the billionaire philanthropist was more sensitive than he appeared because the music suddenly cut out and he appeared jumping out of the helicopter.

"Sorry, didn't mean to upset the kid." He apologised before motioning for everyone to hop on board. The group did as they were told and got inside Rogers ever the gentleman helped Natasha to get her and Clint's belongings into the chopper. The flight was quiet, Clint managed to get Rose back to sleep and the others didn't feel like talking, the sting of betrayal was still fresh in their minds, the group knew that this would affect two of their number more than the others but that didn't mean it hurt any less. Betrayal wasn't something they could get over easily. Natasha took Clint's free hand and held it in both of hers, they both found trusting new people difficult her more than him but they understood how strange and difficult this new arrangement would be for them.

"You think we'll ever forgive him?" she asked sadly keeping her gaze fixed on their entwined fingers.

Clint shrugged; "I'm not sure if I could deal with being angry with him for too long. He has to come to our wedding; I wanted him to give you away." Clint murmured sadly before pressing a careful kiss against her forehead; "He'll have to come to us to apologise though, I'm not making the first move."

Natasha laughed quietly; "You wouldn't, stubborn old mule." She told him with a grin finally looking up at him, she was glad that he didn't want to cut Phil out of their life completely but at the same time she could see why he wanted Coulson to be the one to come to him to apologise. Phil had used the knowledge of Clint's past pain against him and that was a wound which would take a little bit of time to heal.

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**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed that. The longest chapter so far, I hope we got a little bit of insight into how their relationship has changed up to this point. I wonder how long it will take for Phil to come and apologise. Anyway, reviews are amazing and thank you again to everyone who has reviewed so far or who has added this to their alerts or favourites. It means a lot.**


	7. Chapter 7

Not sure how I feel about the ending of this chapter lots of talking, lots of anger. Hopefully all of my lovely readers will still like it. I sense two or three more chapters before the end of this but I just want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed or subscribed so far. You guys have kept me going. Anyhoo this is for all of you.

Disclaimer: Same as always I own nothing and it makes me sad.

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Chapter 7

The floor of Stark tower they had been given was too big, Natasha had never had so much space and nor had Clint, baby Rose loved it she had squealed with delight when she had been shown to her room. Their living quarters had been designed specifically for them, Tony had told them to spend some time getting used to the place that would now be their home. Clint was currently lying on a very long sofa hoisting Rose above his head as she kicked her little legs out behind her and giggled in delight. It was strange to see both her fiancé and her daughter in such a domestic situation, Maria had been right that they hadn't been very good at domestic in the past, but that was mainly because they had never had the time before.

"Do you think we can keep this up?" Natasha asked perching herself on the end of the sofa as she watched the two of them play.

Clint glanced at her with a smile on his face; "Tasha you can't already be doubting out decision, we've only been here half an hour." He chastised her as he sat up and held a giggling Rose against him; "You worried you're going to get itchy feet?" he asked recognising the look on her face.

She pulled an uneasy face and nodded slowly; "Being an assassin is all I know. Working for SHIELD was helping me to clear the red from my ledger."

He nodded, he more than anyone understood what she meant; "I thought we agreed that she cleared away all of your red." Natasha turned to look at him sadly; "We need to think about her as well Nat, she is getting bigger she'll start noticing when we're away." Natasha looked away again sighing loudly almost being unable to keep her eyes on him.

"She's already noticed. When I returned from India she wouldn't let me go, she knows that we aren't around enough." She reached out to smooth Rose's hair down the toddler giggled and reached out towards her mother.

Clint pouted as it was clear their daughter wanted to be in her mother's arms; "Always a momma's girl eh?" he said lifting her a little higher so that Natasha could hold her; he watched as the Black Widow took her daughter into her arms and smiled to himself before pulling himself up into a sitting position; "I love you." He whispered as he smiled at her, he couldn't think of anything more perfect than the sight he had currently; mother and daughter both smiling and giggling at one another.

"I didn't think it was possible to be this happy." She confided as she bounced Rose on her hip before tickling her daughter's side. It was so domestic, so normal that Clint had to pinch himself so that he could believe that this was really his life. He would soon be married to the beautiful mother of his child and together they would start a new life, one that was about protecting people rather than killing them.

"I know what you mean. This doesn't feel real, I try not to think about where we've come from." She smiled at him and nodded understanding his words; "We have to try to focus on what the future will bring us."

"You sound so cheesy." She told him with a grin before bending down slightly to kiss his nose. Of course it hadn't always been this easy, when she had realised that she had feelings for him she had tried to fight them with every fibre of her being. She even took it out on him a few times.

* * *

She couldn't love him, she couldn't have any romantic feelings for him, romantic feelings were complicated they led to dangerous situations which led to more complications. She growled to herself as she turned away from him and looked out of the small window in the safe house they were currently staying in. He had told her that keeping watch wasn't necessary but she knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep anyway so she had perched herself on the edge of the window ledge.

"If you insist on staying awake could you keep it down?" he asked opening an eye to glare at her.

She pouted at him before turning away to glare out of the window; "Sorry Hawk, didn't know you were such a light sleeper."

He chuckled to himself before sitting up; "Being a light sleeper has nothing to do with it. You were growling, mind telling me what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" he asked stretching his arms up and smirking as she glared at him dangerously, he should know better than to call her pretty.

"None of your business Barton." She snapped back pulling a leg up against her chest on the window ledge; "Go back to sleep." She instructed hoping that he would do as he was told. She should have known that he wouldn't, he paused for a moment yawning loudly before sitting up his eyes still trained on her, Natasha had no doubt that even in the darkness his keen eyesight meant that he could see her well enough that he would know that she was giving him her best death glare.

Clint wasn't to be put off even by her most infamous glare; "Widow," he sounded serious, she knew that voice was reserved for when he wasn't joking which was rare; "I need to know what is going on in your head. If it is keeping you up at night there is a chance that it could affect you when you're working." The indignant noise that came from her throat sounded vaguely threatening and the archer tried to explain himself; "I just, I need to understand. You are always so guarded-"

"For good reason." She muttered angrily looking away from him to stare out of the window once more, there was no way she could tell him what was really on her mind, her feelings for the American sat mere feet away from her could possibly affect her judgement in the field.

He pushed himself up from the bed and walked over to her window; "You know you can trust me right?" he told her being careful to keep his gaze looking out of the window ignoring the fact that she had turned to face him, he could feel her breath fanning across his face, it took all of his self control not to capture those perfect red lips of hers little did he know that she was also fighting a similar internal battle.

She couldn't stand to look at him for too long, she couldn't even stand being this close to him; "You aren't the problem." She told him as she pushed away from the window ledge in an attempt to put some distance between them, he didn't let her get away, a hand clamped around her upper arm. Her instinctive reaction told her to break his arm and pull out the blade that she had strapped to her thigh, but she knew that that sort of reaction wasn't acceptable behaviour when faced with your own partner. Instead she pushed him away and stalked towards the door.

"If I'm not the problem, why are you running away from me?" he asked just as her fist closed around the door handle.

She didn't turn to look at him as she said; "The Black Widow never runs." She was halfway out of the door when she mumbled to herself; "It's for your own good." Of course they had come a long way since then and she had been able to see that not all feelings were a weakness to be squashed. He had ended up with a few cracked ribs while she was in denial but once they had both admitted their feelings Clint had laughed about all the damage she had done while 'running' from her feelings.

* * *

He felt guilty for faking his own death of course he did. How could he not when he knew how much it had hurt his best friend. The look of betrayal on Clint Barton's face when he had pulled his daughter from her god-father's arms had made Phil's heart jump painfully in his chest. Watching the two of them walk away from the agency had hurt him more than he cared to admit.

"You have to talk to him." Maria pushed as she walked into his office a few days after the incident.

Phil looked up and raised an eyebrow at her; "I don't have to-"

"You are the god father of their child and Natasha wants you to walk her down the aisle when they get married. You need to talk to them. You need to make this right Phil." He of course knew that she was right, but he wasn't sure how to go about it; "They're staying with Stark, see if he'll let you in, it's a good place to start."

Phil looked up at her with sad eyes, he wasn't sure if any of the Avengers would want to see him let alone forgive him; "What if none of them want to see me? Maria I've abused their trust."

Maria took a seat across from him offering him her best sympathetic smile; "I know this didn't go exactly how you wanted it to sir. But you can't let them walk away with the final word on this one. It was for the greater good and it paid off."

The senior agent nodded, he had to concede that point at least, the Avengers had been successful in their mission; "I suppose the lives saved makes it worth it," she gave him a scathing look and he smiled gently back at her; "I just remember how I felt when Clint and I thought that Tasha was dead." He paused worrying his lip slightly with his teeth; "I forgot how much it had hurt at the time, but this is worse for Clint, he has trust issues to begin with and I've just thrown any trust he had placed in me back in his face."

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself sir and go do something about this!" she snapped before getting to her feet and heading for the door; "You need to make the first move on this one."

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Making the first move when you were approaching potentially deadly assassins was never easy. Phil knew how to deal with both of them when they were angry with each other but dealing with them when they were furious with him was something new. The agent had managed to convince Tony Stark to let him onto the floor where Hawkeye and Black Widow were staying, Stark had warned him that he would be liable for any damage they did to his tower during the agent's visit.

"Good luck." Stark had muttered as he bypassed the lock on their floor and allowed agent Coulson to enter so that he might fix the mess that he was partly responsible for.

He took two steps into the living area before he was faced with the barrel of a gun; "What do you want." He knew that Natasha wouldn't shoot him, but that didn't make her any less terrifying with her gun levelled at his head; "Answer quickly before you lose the ability to answer." She growled.

"Tasha." He tried and flinched slightly as her finger twitched on the trigger, too familiar; "Agent Romanoff, I came to apologise, I was an idiot. I couldn't see the damage my actions would cause and that ended up costing me a lot more than I thought was possible." He took a breath and noticed that Clint had stepped into the room holding a sleeping Rose; "I hurt you more than any of the others, Stark and the other Avengers will get over a little duplicitous actions for the greater good but lying to you was the most dangerous thing."

"You bet your ass it was dangerous." Clint muttered harshly as he stepped closer; "You saw how devastated I was when we had to plan Nat's funeral, you understood better than most how much that hurt me. How could you put me through that again?" He asked working hard to keep his voice low so as not to wake his daughter.

"I was thinking about the greater good, I know that is hardly an excuse but you," he paused and glanced at the Black Widow who still had a gun trained on him; "both of you, you must understand, you've told me often enough about the red that you have in your ledgers. I was saving lives." Natasha lowered the gun as Rose began to wake up, she moved past agent Coulson and took her daughter from Clint giving him a significant look as she went. She knew that her fiancé wanted to forgive his former handler. Rose let out a small cry of protest as she was carried out of the room.

"You think it's that easy Phil?" Clint asked narrowing his eyes dangerously; "You can just swan in here say you're sorry and everything will be okay again?" he growled taking a step closer to the only man he had ever truly trusted; "I gave you everything Phil. Every ounce of trust I had, I invested in you and you abused that trust."

Phil wants to reach out to him, he can hear in Clint's voice the betrayal that he is feeling and the guilt of it, he remembered how long and hard he had tried to break through to the young archer when he'd first arrived and the thought that he had now thrown that away for Fury was a little too tough for him to swallow; "I'm sorry. I know it isn't good enough and I know it may take weeks or even months for me to regain your trust." He paused and swallowed hard gritting his teeth for a moment before going on; "I'll do it. I'll be here every day whether you want to see me or not and I will do anything and everything in my power to get you to believe that I thought I was doing the right thing." He sighed as he saw Clint's eyes narrow once more; "When the plan was put into place you were compromised, we didn't know if we would get you back."

"Don't turn this on me." Clint spat.

Phil put his hands up in an attempt at peace; "I was making a point Clint. I didn't think about how it would affect you because I thought you might already be lost."

"Magic and monsters Clint." Natasha had reappeared at the doorway, Barton offered her a confused look, apparently she was supporting Phil now.

He looked relieved as he continued have Natasha on his side meant that he had more of a chance of winning Clint over; "If it had been different. If you'd been with us I would have told you, I could have told you. You had no affiliation to them, the other Avengers needed something to fight for-"

"So you're saying that I would just have fought Loki like a good little soldier?" Barton backed away as his former handler floundered and tried to think of a way back on track.

"Clint." Tasha's voice was full of warning, she knew what he was doing, he could see that Phil was truly sorry but he wanted a reason to still be angry with him.

"I think maybe you should come back tomorrow." Barton muttered; "And then the next day, and the next until I decide that you actually get it. That you actually see what you made me live through. Again." He pointed a finger at the door and turned and walked away.

They stood in silence for a while Natasha offered him a small half smile, it was one she had often used when she was learning to get used to new emotions, it was a smile that Clint had taught her; "You need to give him time. If it's any consolation I get it. I mean I was angry at first, but not anywhere near as angry as he is. I've not had to deal with this from SHIELD before." She took a breath and walked closer to him; "We both know that it isn't easy to find trust in this business, losing it is a hell of a lot easier than gaining it and getting it back is twice as hard so you've got to give him some time."

"So I come back tomorrow?" he asked with a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes, he would fight to revive this friendship as if his own life depended on it, because some day it might just depend on it.

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**A/N: Some very angry words there from Clint, hmm I wonder how long it will take for him to forgive Phil. Anyway reviews are amazing. Thank you all for reading. Chapter 8 coming soon I hope.**


	8. Chapter 8

Not the longest chapter this time, but I still hope that you all enjoy it all the same. Also a quick thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, this fic has been my most successful on this website by a long way and I appreciate all of the love that you have been giving my story. So yeah, thanks for that. But yeah I hope you will enjoy this as much as you have previous chapters.

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.

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Chapter 8

Once Phil had finally gone Natasha stalked into their bedroom looking for Clint, when she didn't find him there she knew exactly where he would be. She knew he would want to be alone but the harsh words he and his former handler had just exchanged needed to be discussed so she walked into their daughter's room and watched him watch Rose's chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm.

"She really does make it all seem worth it you know." He hadn't acknowledged her presence until that moment, he knew why she was there and what she wanted to talk to him about but for now he just wanted to focus on their daughter.

Natasha smiled and nodded; "She makes me feel forgiven, even if I know that I never can be." She confided after a short pause, she watched him for a moment before stepping further into the room; "We need to talk about Phil."

"No we don't." He argued keeping his voice calm and barely above a whisper.

The Black Widow shook her head smiling to herself; "We already sound like an old married couple." She told him as she moved in closer and wrapped both arms around his torso from behind, he sighed loudly and moved a hand from the edge of the crib to hold both of hers; "I want him to walk me down the aisle." She whispered against Clint's neck.

The archer nodded slowly, he knew why she wanted Phil; "I know I need to forgive him, I know that. But it will take time." He managed to pull his gaze away from their sleeping daughter and turn in Natasha's embrace so that he was facing her; "You know that's a very selfish reason for me to forgive him." Clint smirked at her as she shrugged at him.

"I couldn't care less Barton. I just need you to come to your senses." She told him with a serious look.

He nodded slowly; "I will. But I think I need him to sweat for a bit." He paused and brushed a few stray hairs away from her eyes; "If you knew what it was like when I thought you were dead then you'd understand." He told her with a sigh.

It was her turn to nod, she did understand; "I've had you scare me too. Obviously not to the point where I was planning your funeral but, there was Milan." She told him with a knowing grin.

Clint shook his head; "That was different though, you were with me."

"That doesn't make it any better or any easier." She told him with a glare.

* * *

It had been a few months since Fury had lied to him about her death and they were on a mission together in Milan, Clint had decided that it would be better for both of them if they didn't talk about the whole 'death' incident. He'd seemed more subdued on this mission than he had for a while, Natasha knew why but she wasn't allowed to talk about it. This was their first mission together since she had 'died' and he was on edge, he seemed to be watching her a lot more than usual. While he knew that Natasha was perfectly able to look after herself it didn't mean that he was able to relax about her being in any kind of danger.

Eventually Natasha had enough; "Talk to me." She instructed, she didn't want to hear any of his bullshit today. She wanted the truth and she wasn't in the mood to be ignored by the hawk.

"It isn't important Tasha." He told her, they were currently in a helicopter on route to their safe house flying high above Italy.

She snapped; "The hell it isn't." She growled grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to turn and look at her; "You don't get to shut me out Barton. You know as well as I do how much of your hard work it too for me to trust you, now if you start ignoring me now how am I supposed to do that?" she sounded desperate and Clint knew that she was being serious.

He wasn't ready to face the emotions that almost losing her had dragged up in him so instead he cupped her cheeks and looked into her eyes with a heavy sigh; "I'm sorry, you know you can trust me. I'm not about to go off the rails on you." He could tell that she didn't believe him but any protest she was about to make was cut short as they noticed that the helicopter was beginning to land and the conversation wasn't picked up again.

* * *

The fire fight in Milan hadn't been that bad, both of them would agree that they had seen worse, a lot worse. But a stray bullet can always tip the balance. Unfortunately for the partners the stray bullet had hit Clint on the left side of his chest centimetres away from his heart. By the time Tasha had managed to reach him he was already losing consciousness and was starting to babble incoherently.

"Clint." She yelped as she skidded on the dusty ground coming to stop and dropping instantly to her knees; "The threat has been neutralised." She told him as she pressed a hand against the wound that was spurting out hot sticky blood.

"Sounds good," Clint had replied before mumbling; "gorgeous." Tasha had smiled at him and pressed a kiss against his forehead before using her comm. to call for help.

"Base this is Black Widow, Hawkeye is down, I repeat Hawkeye is down, request immediate med evacuation." She marvelled at how well she kept her voice steady as she called in for help, Clint was rasping for air beneath her, each breath brought more blood into his lungs the sound of it bubbling against his lips was terrifying to Natasha.

A voice on the other end sounded more shaken up than she had; "Where's he hit Tasha?" Coulson's worried voice had her heart clenching in fear.

"Left side of his chest, it must have missed his heart but not by much. He's still breathing Phil but I don't know if he will be for much longer." There was a lengthy pause before Agent Coulson told her how long the medics would be and that she would have to keep pressure on the wound until they arrived. She did as she was told and the medics had to practically prise her away from Clint to load him into the medical helicopter. Once they had got him in she had followed swiftly afterwards and sat by his side throughout the entire flight. She watched as his heart gave out not once, not twice but three times, it wasn't a wonder that by the time they reached the Helicarrier her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were wet. She felt that in those moments she understood completely why he had been so distant and silent on the journey over.

Waiting outside the operating theatre was the worst, Phil sat with her holding her hand in his, he muttered words of reassurance and comfort every now and again; "He'll be fine, Clint is made of tougher stuff than this." Natasha remained silent throughout, she knew that Clint was strong enough and that he'd had worse injuries in the past but this one had come so soon after he had feared losing her that it felt all the more dangerous.

It was several hours before a doctor came out to update them, Tasha did not get to her feet and the doctor addressed Phil; "Agent Barton is stable, he lost a lot of blood and has had to have a lot of transfusions." The doctor glanced at Natasha; "You can go see him if you want?" he offered. Her gaze was firmly fixed on the floor, she didn't like feeling helpless, it wasn't an emotion that she was familiar with.

The doctor excused himself and Phil turned back to her; "You go, I'll call the director." He told her lowering himself into a chair beside her.

She didn't look at him as she got to her feet, all she honestly wanted to do was turn and walk straight out of the hospital, she knew Clint would be disappointed in her if she did, she walked to the room that the doctor had said Clint was in and stood in the doorway staring. He looked pale, and week and frail. He was asleep and Tasha wasn't sure if it was medically induced or if he was injured that badly. She moved further into the room and stood by his bed side; "Hey," she greeted his unconscious form before swallowing nervously; "I get it now. I get why you wouldn't talk to me about this." She pulled in a shaky breath and reached for his hand; "I'm sorry." She whispered as she leant forwards to press her lips against his forehead. She would tell him when he woke up that he was an idiot and that he shouldn't ever worry her like that again. He had chuckled at her and told her he couldn't promise anything of the sort.

* * *

"I still maintain that thinking you were dead was worse." He told her leaning to press a quick kiss to her cheek. The Black Widow rolled her eyes knowing that she would never win this argument, they'd been having it for long enough. The only person who could say for whom it was worse was Phil, but asking him was currently out of the question.

Natasha smiled at him before glancing down at their daughter; "We still need to decide on what we're going to do."

Clint nodded, their decision to leave SHIELD had been a spur of the moment thing they needed to decide if they were going to stick to it; "You yourself said that she's already noticing when we're away, but can you give it up?" he asked turning to look at her with a worried glance.

She turned away from him; "We could always stay Avengers, we'd still get missions every now and again." She sighed; "I don't think I could ever really give it up, but at the same time I couldn't do it without you." Clint smiled affectionately at her; "We're a team, I wouldn't want to have to trust anyone else." He nodded, he knew how long it had taken her to trust him, he didn't want to put another agent through the baptism of fire that was working with Natasha Romanoff; "So we go together?"

"We go together. We'll go tomorrow to see Fury, we'll tell him our final decision." He could see that Natasha was still in two minds about it, he knew how much cleaning her ledger means to her; "It may take you a little longer to clear that ledger of yours," he told her placing a hand carefully on her cheek; "we'll get it done." Clint noticed tears beginning to glisten in her eyes. He amazed her every time when he knew her better than anyone ever had before.

She sighed and nodded slowly; "You continue to surprise me Agent Barton." She told him with an almost pained expression; "You know almost every thought that passes through my mind." She sighed again before pushing herself onto her tiptoes to press a kiss against his lips; "Thank you Clint." She whispered against his lips which made him smile.

A small cry from their daughter caused the pair to pull apart and glance down at Rose who was now pulling herself to her feet and hanging onto the side of the cot; "Mama!" she called out opening her arms to her parents, Natasha nudged Clint out of the way and pulled her daughter into her arms.

"Hey Rose." The Black Widow leaned forwards and pressed her nose against her daughter's; "Someone needs their nappy changed, you're going to have to start potty training her soon." Tasha told him with a sly grin before she walked towards the baby changing table on the other side of the room.

Clint snorted a laugh as he followed them; "I don't remember agreeing to this." He muttered watching as Natasha removed the soiled nappy and threw it away, she had truly become a pro at it and Clint found himself marvelling at how domestic the lethal Black Widow could really be.

* * *

Phil decided that it would be best to leave it for a few days, while he was desperate to have both Clint and Natasha back on his side he knew that he didn't want Clint to see his desperation. Natasha had given him hope that Clint could be persuaded to forgive him. He had thought at first that there was no hope the look of betrayal and hatred in Clint's eyes was almost the only thing that Phil could remember.

"Sir?" Maria poked her head around the door; "Do you want a lift to the Avenger's tower?" while he had chosen not to go in to see Clint for two days he had still gone to the tower, he'd stood outside it looking up at the imposing building with an awful feeling of dread and worry filling him at the thought of Clint turning him away.

"Maybe this time I'll actually go in." He commented as he pushed his chair away from the table and got to his feet, he was convinced that today he would actually make it into the building.

Maria gave him a sympathetic smile as she led the way to her car; "You'll make it in there today Sir." She told him confidently once they were both in the car, he nodded slowly hoping that she was right.

"I hope so." He mumbled more to himself than to her as she pulled away and headed towards the Avenger's tower and hopefully for Phil towards redemption.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Here is chapter 8, hope you all enjoyed it. Maybe Phil will actually be forgiven by Clint next time. We'll just have to wait and see.**


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry this took so long, but my laptop died and writers block hit me but chapter 9 is finally here.

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.

* * *

Chapter 9

Phil managed to get into the building and was met with Iron Man who was smirking at him knowingly, Phil pulled a face as Tony pressed the door to call the lift before stepping inside with Phil; "So you made it inside this time?" the amused tone was too much for Phil.

He should have known that Tony had seen him when he hadn't managed to make it inside; "It appears as though I have Mr. Stark." He tried to keep his tone clipped and professional, he turned to look at Tony who was giving him a sympathetic look.

"If you keep trying he's bound to forgive you, it doesn't matter to me of course but it would be useful to have him out of the funk he's been in recently." The billionaire told him trying his best to sound as nonchalant as possible, Tony Stark wasn't in the business of caring about other people but Phil could see that despite his bravado he did actually care about what happened to his team and to the agent now stood beside him.

Phil smiled; "He has every right to be angry with me Tony."

He nodded; "He does, but that doesn't mean he should be grumpy with everyone else." Phil rolled his eyes and decided not to responded, they remained in silence for the rest of the ride in the elevator. When it finally came to Clint and Natasha's floor, Tony wished him luck for the second time as Phil stepped off and walked further into the floor.

Natasha was sitting on the floor in front of the sofa with Rose in her lap, the toddler noticed Phil first, or at least she reacted first; "PHEEL!" she called out clapping happily as she waved at him. Natasha smiled at her daughter before looking up at the agent who was standing before her looking more than a little sheepish.

"Rose," he greeted with a smile; "Natasha."

The deadly black widow glanced back at her daughter as she replied; "He's taking a shower, you can wait here if you want." There wasn't any hostility in her tone nor was there any as she grinned at Rose when she reached out to the agent who had stepped closer; "She's missed you Phil."

He nodded slowly as he crouched down beside Rose and allowed her to climb onto his lap; "I've missed her too." He placed a hand on the back of her head supporting and running his fingers over the soft blonde curls, as the toddler grinned up at him.

"Pheel, Pheeeel." She squealed happily clapping at him.

Phil found himself grinning back at the small child; "Hey Rosie, how are you doing?" he asked her, she grabbed hold of his hands and kicked her little legs so that he would place her back on the floor, once she was back on the floor she pulled him towards the colouring that she had been doing with her mother.

"You red Pheel, you red." She held out a red crayon to him, he took it and glanced over at Natasha who was still smiling at her daughter who had now picked up a purple crayon. Phil knew that purple was Clint's favourite colour so it stood to reason that his daughter would like it too, she then proceeded to draw something that looked like a purple spider but could easily have been a scribble before holding it up, her chubby fingers creasing the page slightly as she held it out to him; "For you." She told him with a grin.

Phil was about to thank her when he was interrupted; "You came back then?" a gruff voice came from behind him.

"Da-da!" Rose exclaimed happily waving her picture of the odd looking purple spider at her father. Clint smiled down at his daughter and reached down to take the picture from her.

"Is this supposed to be your mama?" he asked smiling slightly as his little girl nodded, Clint glanced at the woman in question and that was all the hint she needed to lift Rose into her arms and carry her away into her bedroom. Phil waved as Rose was carried past him and the toddler waved back; "So let's hear it then." Clint drew his attention back to the matter at hand.

Phil pulled himself up off the floor where he had been colouring with Rose to look at his former charge, he pulled in a deep breath; "I know I've said it before, I made a stupid mistake, I should have found away to tell you my plan, it didn't matter that you were under Loki's control you deserved to know." Phil noticed the way Clint's face twitched at the memory of being under Loki's control, he knew that there wasn't any way that Phil could have told him without risking the rest of the team's trust.

"I didn't deserve to go through that again. Not after I was put through it by Fury with Tasha. You saw what it did to me. You were there." He ground out.

Phil nodded slowly; "I don't deserve your forgiveness but I need it Clint. I can't carry on with you being angry at me. Your my best friend, you're the best agent I've ever had the misfortune to train and I know that my life won't be the same if you can't find a way to forgive me." Natasha reappeared in the doorway, she was still glaring but Phil noticed that this time her glare was aimed at Clint and not at him. He wasn't sure what this meant but it gave him the smallest fluttering hope somewhere deep in his chest.

Clint's eyes drifted from Phil to Natasha and back to Phil once more he nodded slowly; "I couldn't possibly stay mad at you forever." He muttered barely loud enough for the agent to hear, Natasha cleared her throat and Clint started again a little louder this time; "I need this to never happen again. No more faking of deaths, my family stays together. That means you too. You've always been like a brother to me, more than Barney ever was at least." He sighed heavily and his eyes drifted to Natasha who was smiling at him; "I-I forgive you."

His former handler launched himself forward and Clint found himself tensing ready for a blow, instead he found Phil's arms around him as he held on tight; "I am so sorry, it'll never happen again I swear." Clint chuckled nervously and patted Phil on the back, the over the top reaction was so not him.

"I guess I really had you scared." Clint tried to joke as he pulled Phil away from him. His handler chose not to reply but in doing so gave Clint his answer anyway; "Natasha wouldn't let me stay angry at you forever, she said you still have to walk her down the aisle." Clint told his friend with what he hoped was a comforting and warm smile.

The look on Phil's face made Clint realise how much he really had taken his anger to his heart; "You don't know how happy I am to hear that she still wants me to."

Clint frowned; "The pain didn't run as deep for her as it did for me," he told his friend with a sympathetic look; "I'm sorry it took me so long though, I was being a little bit selfish I guess." Clint conceded guiltily.

* * *

It took a while for Phil to come to terms with the fact that they had been serious about leaving SHIELD, he had asked them about it every day since Clint had forgiven him trying to make them change their minds. It was a few weeks later a couple of days before Rose's second birthday and Natasha was busying herself in the kitchen of the Avenger's tower (formally Stark towers). Natasha was currently cutting up an apple for Rose who was sat on Phil's lap as he watches her mother.

"You're sure?" he asks continuing a conversation they had had the day before. Natasha turned to him and narrowed her eyes dangerously; "Fury is furious. He can't lose both of his best assets in one fell swoop."

Natasha walked closer with a small bowl full of apple pieces, she places them down on the table in front of Rose and smiles as the almost two year old leans forwards to grab a piece; "We don't want to do it anymore Phil. We've said we'll work with the Avengers and that is it. Any more SHIELD missions to far off places that result in one or both of us coming back with fresh bullet holes or that result in us not coming back at all...it isn't an option any more. She's getting older and she misses us when we're away." Phil nodded slowly before accepting a piece of apple that Rose had offered him.

"I never thought that this would be your life Tasha." He told her with a fond smile as he remembers the first time he saw her, all fiery spirit and rage.

* * *

"Get your filthy hands off me." Her voice had roared as the two SHIELD agents had helped her from the jet, Clint had stood back and watched as she wriggled free of their grip, she had agreed to come with him, but she hadn't agreed to come quietly and she certainly hadn't agreed to be nice to anyone who grabbed her and tried to haul her off into custardy. Clint warned her not to snap their necks because that wouldn't go down well with her new employer. She had snorted at him and told him that her previous employers would have been impressed.

"You didn't really prepare us for this Barton." Coulson chastised as soon as Natasha had freed herself and was standing off to the side glaring at Clint who only smiled back; "You didn't warn her that she'd been treated like this did you?" Clint's smile grew into a cheeky grin which had his handler rolling his eyes in disappointment. He turned to the deadly Black Widow and addressed her directly; "Ms. Romanoff, I need you to come with me. No one will touch you if you don't want them to." He turns on his heel knowing that she'll check with Clint that she can trust him before following. She was all fire and pent up anger when he first met her, she was a wild horse that needed to be broken in, of course the job fell to Clint, Phil should have known from day one that they would fall in love. Barton was the sort of agent that relished a challenge and loving her in the beginning was certainly a challenge.

Her grunt as she started to follow was all the affirmation that Phil required to keep on walking, Natasha liked him almost instantly, not that she would admit to it. She liked that he was a no nonsense kind of guy, he heard your bullshit and then carried on regardless because he had a job to do, Natasha respected the quiet calm that came with him, they used to sit together in the early days in a comfortable silence that would have made any ordinary person shifty; "Do you feel safe agent Coulson?" she asked him once, he'd glanced up at her from his position on an old worn sofa to where she was perched high up on an almost too thin shelf. Phil often wondered what it was with his agents and high places.

"Are you asking if I feel safe in general? Or," he pulled in a breath and turned his body towards her in a challenge; "if I feel safe with you?" Phil allowed himself a satisfied smirk as he watched her pull a dissatisfied face before nodding slowly.

"The second one." She pulled in a heavy breath; "We sit here you and I, in silence, in each other's company...you seem to not worry that I often have ample opportunity to kill you." She was so used to people being afraid of her that Coulson's acceptance had been difficult to take on face value. The fact that he had turned his back on her almost the moment he'd met her had felt like a challenge one that she hadn't yet risen to. Even Clint had the good sense to be afraid of her sometimes.

Phil smiled and nodded; "I trust that you won't kill me though." He knows that is a difficult concept for her to grasp, she is so used to being lied to and manipulated that trust isn't something that comes easily for her. She hasn't even been cleared for active duty yet because Fury doesn't trust her, that is something she understands.

Natasha narrows her gaze at him; "How can you do that?" she asks him, because he is an observant man he doesn't miss the small waver in her voice.

"If I didn't trust you I wouldn't be a very good handler. It is my job to believe that the agents in my care can be trusted not to kill me. If you can do that for hours on end, and I have seen that you can, then I know that you're ready for active duty." It had been his way of testing her, his quiet calm and resolve had been her final test. He almost missed the way one side of her mouth quirked upwards in an almost half smile before the steely stoic gaze of the Black Widow returned.

* * *

"I never thought this would be my life either, but I am happy Phil." She told him honestly as she used a tissue to wipe some apple juice that was currently dribbling down Rose's chin; "We're all happy." She told him with a smile at her daughter who was now grinning a toothy grin at her mother.

Phil sighed, he was of course pleased that she and Clint were happy, he knew better than most that they needed happiness; "If you're sure...just know that if you ever wanted to come back they will always be a place open for you with us." He stood up and passed Rose to her mother.

"Pheeel!" Rose protested making grabby hands at him for a moment.

"Sorry Rosie, Uncle Phil has to go now." He leant forwards and pressed a quick kiss to her chubby cheek, she squealed with delight before waving to him; "Tell Clint I get it now and that I really am happy for him and you. Bye Tasha." She soft voice sounded sad but Natasha found no trace of sadness in his eyes as she met them, she nodded and promised him that she would before walking him to the door and showing him out.

* * *

**A/N: Okay yay chapter 9. Quick question, should I finish it there it feels nicely wrapped up and everyone is happy, or would you like one final chapter with the wedding? Reviews are amazing and I need to know the answer to my question. Thank you for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10: Finale

So here it is at last, the final part of this story has finally arrived. Anyway, this took longer to write than I had hoped, I struggle to write happy things apparently but here it is. I hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Chapter 10: Finale

It took a while for everything to be in place for the Black Widow and Hawkeye to get married. By the time they were ready and everyone they wanted to be there was on the right planet and they weren't needed to save the world from some imminent disaster Rose was three years old. Old enough to walk down the aisle before her mother and scatter petals as a flower girl. Clint and Natasha had given her the chance to say no but she had practically leapt at the chance, she was happy that her parents would finally be married like all the good princes and princesses in her stories. Clint had stopped Natasha from telling Rose that they were far from characters in a fairytale.

"You think it is healthy to believe that about us Clint?" she glared at him, he knew that her anger only came from regret and the pain that her childhood had never been as innocent.

Clint nodded at her; "That is exactly what I think. If she wants to believe that you are like sleeping beauty or Rapunzel then let her. She knows you're a hero let our daughter think you're a princess."

"So are you my knight in shining armour?" she asked smiling slightly at him as she cupped his cheek tenderly.

He wouldn't fall for that old trick; "You don't need a knight in shining armour my love." He pulled her hand from his cheek and pressed a careful kiss to her knuckles; "Anyone to doubt that would be a fool." She nodded slowly clearly pleased with his response; "We're getting married tomorrow," he whispered against her knuckles before pressing another kiss to them; "do you think it is too much to hope that nothing goes wrong?" he asked her with a wry smile.

Natasha quirked an eyebrow at him; "With friends like ours?" she sighed to herself.

* * *

The morning sun crept underneath Natasha's curtains to rouse her from a nervous sleep, she could already hear Pepper's voice in the living room, Natasha pulled herself from the large double bed and wandered into the living room. Pepper had Rose in her arms, she was telling the toddler that today was the day her parents would finally be getting married.

"Just as long as nothing goes wrong." Natasha affirmed with a sly grin. Pepper turned to her and nodded; "Have you been sent here to make sure I don't get cold feet?" Natasha asked raising an eyebrow at her friend.

Pepper scoffed at the suggestion; "Of course not. I'm just here to make sure everything runs smoothly. To help with hair, makeup and clothes if you need it." The strawberry blonde told the Russian. Natasha nodded the barest hint of a genuine smile starting to pull at her lips, she stepped further into the room and took Rose from Pepper.

"Where's dada?" Rose asked peering over Natasha's shoulder.

Natasha smirked, her daughter was clearly a daddy's girl; "Your daddy is getting ready to marry me my sweet. For some strange reason he believes it is bad luck to see me on the day before the wedding. That means we will see him later. Okay my Pоза?" Rose was silent for a moment before nodding, Natasha wasn't sure if she had understood most of what she'd been told but she knew that she'd be seeing her father later and that was enough for her.

"So where would you like us to start?" Pepper asked before taking Natasha's hand and dragging her towards the bedroom where Natasha's wedding dress was waiting.

* * *

He had hardly slept a wink. He was nervous, Natasha always made him nervous, but today she had the opportunity to break his heart. Clint shifted from the bed and glanced at his wedding suit that was hanging up over the guest bed of Bruce's temporary accommodation. Natasha had chosen the deep purple tie telling him that she wanted him to have his favourite colour, he reached out a hand to brush against the silk of it for a moment as he wonders if Natasha has woken up yet. He'd told Pepper to go round early to make sure everything ran smoothly, he didn't want any mistakes today.

"You awake Barton?" Tony marched in as if he owned the place and grinned at the archer; "You ready to kiss goodbye your bachelor ways?" the billionaire asks with a wide grin.

Clint rolls his eyes; "I haven't been living a bachelor lifestyle for a while Tony, I'm not you." Stark sucked in a breath sharply pretending to be insulted; "Tash is the only one for me. I knew that she was the one pretty early on in our partnership, it took her a little longer to work it out."

Tony pretends to gag dramatically; "Okay Katniss, no need to go all soppy on me. I'm sure I'll hear all about it during your speech." The billionaire pulled an uninterested face before continuing, "will there be many speeches today?" he asked grimacing.

Clint rubbed one of his eyes with the palm of his hand and shrugged; "No more than there usually are." He told him moving into the living room where Bruce was already up and dressed reading the morning newspaper; "What is it with you scientists, do you ever sleep?" Barton asked with a groan as he went to get himself some breakfast.

Bruce smiled slightly before glancing at the archer over his glasses; "How are you feeling?"

The archer grinned; "I get the feeling the two of you are expecting me to have cold feet about this...I asked her to marry me a little over three years ago. I've waited a long time for this day to come, believe me, I am more than ready." Bruce and Tony didn't make any other comment they allowed Barton to make and eat his breakfast in peace before watching him return to his temporary bedroom to get changed into his wedding suit.

* * *

The guests were making themselves comfortable in one of the larger meeting rooms of the Avengers' tower, Natasha had forced Clint agree to a small ceremony, she really didn't want a fuss. If there was one thing she really couldn't stand it was a fuss. Natasha and Pepper were adding the finishing touches to her makeup, Pepper with Rose on her hip took a small step back to admire her handy work. Natasha looked amazing. The redhead was beautiful anyway but dressed in her wedding dress with an excited glow colouring her features she was simply breathtaking.

"Ready to knock the wind out of him?" Pepper asked smiling proudly at her friend.

Rose clapped appreciatively at the sight of her mother; "Mama pretty." She called out happily.

Natasha smiled and nodded to Pepper before addressing her daughter; "Thank you Rosie." When Pepper had taken her dress shopping she'd felt ridiculous, she didn't like dressing up in pretty dresses that was never 'her' she'd often have to wear extravagant ball gowns for missions so dressing up never really appealed to her. She had wanted to take the first dress she tried on, just to get it over and done with, but Pepper had refused to let her choose that quickly. Natasha had been forced to try on seven more dresses before Pepper was satisfied, and if Natasha was being completely honest Pepper had been right, the dress she had on now was a lot better than the first one she tried on. The bodice was a corset and the skirt was figure hugging until it flared out near her knees, it was covered with intricate lace patterns, Pepper had asked that they be made to look like spider's webs.

A knock on the large doors announced Coulson's arrival; "We're ready when you are." He called through the door. Pepper turned her attention to Tasha, the Russian nodded and Pepper pulled open the door. Phil Coulson had never been very good with words as it was, but the sight of her really left him speechless a muted; "Wow." Was all he managed.

"You think he's going to approve?" Natasha asked with a sly grin.

"You are going to blow him away Tasha. I think Bruce will need to help him to stay upright." Natasha rolled her eyes at him before reaching out to take his hand; "Are you ready to become Mrs. Barton then?" he asked a small smile tugging at his lips.

"I am not changing my name." Natasha told him seriously, after a pause and a stern look from Pepper, Natasha smiled; "But yes, I am more than ready to go and get married."

"Okay," Pepper grinned and stepped closer so that Natasha could give her daughter a kiss; "say goodbye to your mom Rose, we will see you out there."

"Bye bye mama, bye bye Pheel." Rose said with a wave and a grin.

Phil gave the three year old a wave before turning to her mother; "Let's not keep him waiting. If we wait too long I think he might come looking for us." Phil offered her his arm which she took with a satisfied grin.

"He worried I won't show?" she asked as they stepped towards the door, Phil nodded with a small smile playing on his lips.

* * *

Standing at the altar Clint's hands were clammy and his collar felt too tight, he smoothed down his purple tie for the 12th time Bruce grinned at him and they all looked up as Pepper emerged at the door and placed Rose on the floor and handed her the small basket of petals. Rose knew what to do and Clint watched with a swell of pride as his young daughter scattered the petals on the floor with a bright smile that she directed at her father. Pepper moved to find her place beside Tony who was sat in the front row, he too seemed enchanted by the small child scattering petals as the violinist began to play an old Russian folk song that Clint had requested for Natasha.

She and Phil had appeared in the doorway, Clint's breath was sucked from his lungs and he gasped out a; "My god." As he stared at the woman who would soon be his wife. She was truly stunning, nothing could have prepared him for the sight of her approaching him down the aisle. Knowing that she was about to become his. When she and Phil reached him he glanced at his handler and clasped his hand firmly before pulling him into a hug; "I couldn't have got here without you. Thank you." He whispered in his ear before releasing him and turning to Tasha who offered him a reserved smile.

The service was simple, neither of them had wanted anything too flashy, they had written their own vows and when it came to saying them Clint found a lump in his throat and tears welling at the corners of his eyes; "You and I have been through our fair share of tragedies, we've fought together and against each other, we've been partners and part of a team." He glanced at the other Avengers who were gathered in the front row grinning at him, Thor's large form blocking the view of people in the second and possibly third rows; "But I knew, I knew the day that I didn't fire that arrow that you and I were meant to be. It took you a little bit of convincing. You refused to trust me, refused to trust anyone. But eventually I brought you around to my way of thinking." He paused and dared to look into Tasha's eyes, she was biting her lip to try and force away a smile; "I swear to you," he breathed gripping her hands a little bit tighter; "I will always have your back, I will protect you even though I know you don't need protecting, I will love you and our daughter until the day I die and even after that." Natasha was nodding barely able to contain her smile now; "I promise you that I will do everything a husband and partner should for as long as I live." He let out a shuddering breath and gave her a watery smile.

It was her turn and Natasha had not anticipated the emotions that were now rushing through her; "You've always been my rock. My one constant when everything around me is going to hell, even when you've been possessed by evil alien Gods I know that I will get you back because there is nothing you wouldn't do to get back to me and Rose. We are an unconventional family, I never thought I'd be able to have children but the very thought of her made my heart skip a beat and your enthusiasm told me everything I needed to know about how much you truly love me." Clint chuckled and nodded; "You're right though, it did take me a while to realise that this," she points at him and then at herself; "is meant to be. Despite my best efforts to deny my feelings for you and then my refusal when you first asked to marry me." Clint shook his head with a grin; "I promise that I will always have your back. I'll always knock some sense into you when you need it and rescue your ass when it needs saving. I promise to love you, even though love is still for children, until my dying day and long after that." She grinned at him in a rare show of true emotions as Clint was told that he could now kiss his bride.

The loud cheers from Thor and clapping from everyone else in the room faded away as the newlyweds lost themselves in the kiss that sealed their union, they only separated when Natasha felt a small hand tugging on her dress; "Mama, up?" she asked her large blue eyes wide, it was Clint who bent down to gather their daughter into his arms, he was well aware that Natasha's movement would be restricted by her corset; "Mama so pretty Papa." Rose told her father as she reached out to touch her mother's dress.

Clint nodded in agreement; "Your mother does look beautiful today. She looks beautiful every day but today, she is extra stunning." Rose giggled and nodded.

"Oh shush you two, you'll make me blush." Natasha told her family, that word got stuck in her head for a moment as she glanced around her family, it was funny to think of them like that, this mishmash of superheroes had somehow become important to her in many ways. She glanced at Phil who offered her his own reserved smile by way of congratulations. The guests were waiting for the bride and groom to leave before they could move onto to the reception, Natasha took Clint's free hand and led him back down the aisle and into the small wash room where she had been getting ready before.

When the three of them were alone Clint turned to her with a satisfied smile; "Thank you Tasha."

The Russian turned to him confused; "For what?" she asked with a frown.

"For making this old carnie that happiest man alive." He told her with an honest smile.

Natasha laughed; "It was my pleasure," she told him decided against making fun of his soppy statement; "Now if you will excuse me I need to get changed into a more suitable dress for our party." She pressed a quick kiss to his lips and one to Rose's cheek before grabbing her change of clothes and leaving the room.

"Dada?" Rose's voice pulled Clint away from his reverie as he stared after his new wife.

"Yes Rose?" he asked turning to look at his daughter.

She pulled thoughtfully on one of her red curls before opening her mouth once more; "What is- umm, what does carnie mean?" she asked her brow furrowing in confusion as she tried to think of where the word could possibly have come from.

Clint pulled in a breath and tried not to laugh, that part of his history was a whole other story that his young daughter didn't need to hear just yet; "Don't you worry about that just yet princess, I'll tell you one day." The day would come when he and Tasha would have to sit their daughter down and explain everything about their past about the terrible things they had been forced to do, Clint counted himself very lucky that, that day was a long way away. For now and for a few years to come, whenever he or Tasha was faced with a tough question Rose would accept that she would have to wait a few more years before her parents would give her the full story.

Neither Clint nor Natasha had ever dared to hope that they would get their 'happily ever after', those three words hadn't been part of their vernacular before the other came onto the scene. Their daughter had helped them to believe in true love and happy endings and here on their wedding day they had finally reached theirs. Or at least it felt that way, of course there would be trouble ahead of them as the world would need saving more than once but they would be fighting side by side, and as Natasha had promised in her vows she would get him back by any means possible if he was taken from her again. Luckily for them the whole day went off without a problem, even with their friends Thor only broke a table during one of the speeches but Coulson was prepared and had a spare one on hand. The other Avengers were on their very best behaviour and Thor himself had been extremely apologetic but both Natasha and Clint had simply laughed it off, they were both far too happy to be worried about a broken table.

"Congratulations." Coulson told them when the party was in full swing, they both beamed at him; "I really will miss working with you at SHIELD."

"We will miss you too Phil, but just because we won't be working together anymore doesn't mean that we won't see each other. You are always welcome to come and visit us at the Avengers' tower. We're still friends Phil." Clint reassured him with a grin before enveloping his former handler into a hug. It wasn't a goodbye it was a; 'See you soon'. It was the beginning of a new chapter for Clint's new family, his new family now felt that little bit closer to being complete.

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**A/N: And there it is the very last chapter. I hope that you liked this as much as you have enjoyed the previous chapters. I cannot thank all of my readers/reviewers/subscribers enough for the support you have all given me. Anyway, reviews are amazing. Thank you again.**


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